The greatest unhappiness of the least number

We propose an alternative articulation of the Benthamite greatest-happinessof-the-greatest-number principle. With ordinally measurable and interpersonally non-comparable utilities, the rule chooses those feasible alternatives that maximize the number of individuals who end up with their greatest ele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social choice and welfare 2017-12, Vol.49 (3/4), p.637-655
Main Authors: Bossert, Walter, Suzumura, Kotaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternatives
Articulation
Criticism
Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods
Economics
Economics and Finance
Game Theory
Happiness
International Political Economy
Original Paper
Public Finance
Social and Behav. Sciences
Social justice
Social Policy
Utilitarianism
Voting rules
Welfare economics
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Summary:We propose an alternative articulation of the Benthamite greatest-happinessof-the-greatest-number principle. With ordinally measurable and interpersonally non-comparable utilities, the rule chooses those feasible alternatives that maximize the number of individuals who end up with their greatest element. This rule is tantamount to the plurality rule. Furthermore, in the spirit of Rawls's maximin principle, we propose the greatest-unhappiness-of-the-least-number principle. In analogy to the greatest-happiness principle, the least-unhappiness principle is formally equivalent to the anti-plurality rule. Our main result is a characterization of the least-unhappiness principle.
ISSN:0176-1714
1432-217X
DOI:10.1007/s00355-017-1066-4