TY - JOUR
T1 - Climate policy with Bentham-Rawls preferences
AU - Tol, Richard S.J.
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - A Bentham-Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham-Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham-Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham-Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.
AB - A Bentham-Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham-Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham-Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham-Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.
KW - Bentham-Rawls criterion
KW - Climate policy
KW - Social cost of carbon
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872655969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84872655969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.12.006
DO - 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.12.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84872655969
VL - 118
SP - 424
EP - 428
JO - Economics Letters
JF - Economics Letters
SN - 0165-1765
IS - 3
ER -
