TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kaplow,Louis
TI  - Discounting Dollars, Discounting Lives: Intergenerational Distributive Justice and Efficiency
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12239
PY  - 2006
Y2  - May 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12239
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12239.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Louis Kaplow
Harvard University
Hauser 322
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-4101
Fax: 617/496-4880
E-Mail: meskridge@law.harvard.edu
AB  - The view that intergenerational distributive justice and efficiency should be treated separately is familiar, yet controversial. This article elaborates the often-implicit justifications for separate treatment and provides a more express statement of how and when such treatment is appropriate. Substantial attention is devoted to an approach that holds constant the intra- and intergenerational distribution of well-being, which proves to be a valuable analytical device even for intergenerational policies that are not distribution neutral. Also explored are possible interrelationships between intergenerational distributive justice and efficiency, the choice of interest rate for discounting dollars, and how the present approach relates to those that would employ direct social weights to dollars at different points in time.
ER  -