Population ethics and the value of life

Arbeitspapier

Public policies often involve choices of alternatives in which the size and the composition of the population may vary. Examples are the allocation of resources to prenatal care and the design of aid packages to developing countries. In order to assess the corresponding feasible choices on normative grounds, criteria for social evaluation that are capable of performing variable-population comparisons are required. We review several important axioms for welfarist population principles and discuss the link between individual well-being and the desirability of adding a new person to a given society.

Object Details

• ISBN: 9291906662
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Research Paper ; No. 2005/03

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ; Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
• Subject: population ethics ; neutrality ; critical levels

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Blackorby, Charles ; Bossert, Walter ; Donaldson, David
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2005

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63547
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET