Overview

What is a fair distribution of resources and other goods when individuals are partly responsible for their achievements? This book develops a theory of fairness incorporating a concern for personal responsibility, opportunities and freedom. With a critical perspective, it makes accessible the recent developments in economics and philosophy that define social justice in terms of equal opportunities. It also proposes new perspectives and original ideas. The book separates mathematical sections from the rest of the text, so that the main concepts and ideas are easily accessible to non-technical readers. It is often thought that responsibility is a complex notion, but this monograph proposes a simple analytical framework that makes it possible to disentangle the different concepts of fairness that deal with neutralizing inequalities for which the individuals are not held responsible, rewarding their effort, respecting their choices, or staying neutral with respect to their responsibility sphere. It dwells on paradoxes and impossibilities only as a way to highlight important ethical options and always proposes solutions and reasonable compromises among the conflicting values surrounding equality and responsibility. The theory is able to incorporate disincentive problems and is illustrated in the examination of applied policy issues such as: income redistribution when individuals may be held responsible for their choices of labor supply or education; social and private insurance when individuals may be held responsible for their risky lifestyle; second chance policies; the measurement of inequality of opportunities and social mobility.

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9780199653591

Table of Contents

Reviews

Fairness, Responsibility, and Welfare offers various important insights into the seemingly complex topic of distributive implications of holding people partly responsible for their achievements...the content of the book is easily attainable for a broader audience...it will be one of the more important references for both economists and philosophers working in the field of distributive justice. Lars Schwettmann Journal of Social Choice and Welfare Inquiries such as Fleurbaey's, which employ both formal and philosophical methods to explore distributional principles, are of great importance from all three perspectives. Fairness, Responsibility, and Welfare is essential reading for serious egalitarians. Daniel M. Hausman, Ethics Fleurbaey's monograph is a paradigmatic masterpiece for the fruitful combination of philosophy and the axiomatic method in an area of highest interest for the social sciences. Andreas Tutic, Rationality, Markets and Morals Impressive...an excellent contribution to the field of distributive justice Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Economics and Philosophy Fleurbaey's book is clearly written and successfully communicates to a broad audience while not sacrificing rigor. It provides a thorough account of the most recent developments in social choice theory at the same time as contributing innovations which develop this area in a beautiful and important way. John Roemer, Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Professor of Political Science and Economics, Yale University The role of personal responsibility is important for the foundations of justice, but the subject has not received the critical investigation it deserves. In this book, Marc Fleurbaey has gone a long distance in meeting this gap. This is a deeply illuminating contribution on a neglected aspect of welfare economics. Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 1998

`Fairness, Responsibility, and Welfare offers various important insights into the seemingly complex topic of distributive implications of holding people partly responsible for their achievements...the content of the book is easily attainable for a broader audience...it will be one of the more important references for both economists and philosophers working in the field of distributive justice.' Lars Schwettmann Journal of Social Choice and Welfare `Inquiries such as Fleurbaey's, which employ both formal and philosophical methods to explore distributional principles, are of great importance from all three perspectives. Fairness, Responsibility, and Welfare is essential reading for serious egalitarians.' Daniel M. Hausman, Ethics `Fleurbaey's monograph is a paradigmatic masterpiece for the fruitful combination of philosophy and the axiomatic method in an area of highest interest for the social sciences.' Andreas Tutic, Rationality, Markets and Morals `Impressive...an excellent contribution to the field of distributive justice' Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Economics and Philosophy `Fleurbaey's book is clearly written and successfully communicates to a broad audience while not sacrificing rigor. It provides a thorough account of the most recent developments in social choice theory at the same time as contributing innovations which develop this area in a beautiful and important way.' John Roemer, Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Professor of Political Science and Economics, Yale University `The role of personal responsibility is important for the foundations of justice, but the subject has not received the critical investigation it deserves. In this book, Marc Fleurbaey has gone a long distance in meeting this gap. This is a deeply illuminating contribution on a neglected aspect of welfare economics.' Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 1998

Author Information

Marc Fleurbaey has previously been a senior researcher at CNRS (Paris), a professor of economics at Cergy-Pontoise and Pau, and an economist at INSEE. He has held visiting positions at the LSE, Oxford, and U.C. Davis. He has published extensively on welfare economics, fairness, inequality. He is a former editor of Economics and Philosophy and is a managing editor of Social Choice and Welfare.

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