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Prioritizing the “worse off” under attainability constraints: An indeterminacy problem for distributive fairness

Herlitz, Anders LU and Horan, David (2016) In UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy Discussion Paper Series WP2016/08.
Abstract
Numerous theories of distributive fairness promote the idea that we ought to give extra weight to benefits to the worse off and can thereby be seen as promoting gap closures. This paper underlines the relevance of making a distinction between attainable and ideal target levels for individuals in populations affected by distributive fairness and show that in cases of scarce resources, theories that promote aggregate gap closures and prioritization of the worse off can in view of this distinction be interpreted in three mutually inconsistent ways.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
in
UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy Discussion Paper Series
volume
WP2016/08
pages
28 pages
publisher
UCD Geary Institute For Public Policy
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
fb675d91-3d44-47d5-a750-ff728cce0480
alternative location
http://hdl.handle.net/10197/7691
date added to LUP
2024-12-10 15:15:08
date last changed
2025-01-10 14:55:13
@misc{fb675d91-3d44-47d5-a750-ff728cce0480,
  abstract     = {{Numerous theories of distributive fairness promote the idea that we ought to give extra weight to benefits to the worse off and can thereby be seen as promoting gap closures. This paper underlines the relevance of making a distinction between attainable and ideal target levels for individuals in populations affected by distributive fairness and show that in cases of scarce resources, theories that promote aggregate gap closures and prioritization of the worse off can in view of this distinction be interpreted in three mutually inconsistent ways.}},
  author       = {{Herlitz, Anders and Horan, David}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  publisher    = {{UCD Geary Institute For Public Policy}},
  series       = {{UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy Discussion Paper Series}},
  title        = {{Prioritizing the “worse off” under attainability constraints: An indeterminacy problem for distributive fairness}},
  url          = {{http://hdl.handle.net/10197/7691}},
  volume       = {{WP2016/08}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}