Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T14:01:55.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Equality of Talent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

John E. Roemer
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis

Extract

If one is an egalitarian, what should one want to equalize? Opportunities or outcomes? Resources or welfare? These positions are usually conceived to be very different. I argue in this paper that the distinction is misconceived: the only coherent conception of resource equality implies welfare equality, in an appropriately abstract description of the problem. In this section, I motivate the program which the rest of the paper carries out.

Type
Essays
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Dasgupta, Partha, and Hammond, Peter, 1980. “Fully Progressive Taxation.” Journal of Public Economics 13: 142154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1977. Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1981a. “What is Equality? Part 1: Equality of Welfare.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 10: 185246.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald. 1981b. “What is Equality? Part 2: Equality of Resources.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 10: 283345.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 1982. Sour Grapes. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Foley, Duncan. 1967. “Resource Allocation and the Public Sector.” Yale Economic Essays.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, John. 1978. “Morality and the Theory of Rational Behavior.” Social Research 44 (no. 4)Google Scholar
Kolm, Serge-Christophe. 1972. Justice et Equité. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.Google Scholar
Loomes, Graham, and Sugden, Robert. 1982. “Regret Theory: An Alternative Theory of Rational Choice Under Uncertainty.” Economic Journal 92: 805824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machina, Mark. 1982. “‘Expected Utility’ Analysis without the Independence Axiom.” Econometrica 50: 277324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machina, Mark. 1983. “The Economic Theory of Behavior toward Risk: Theory, Evidence, and New Directions.” Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Mirrlees, James. 1974. “Notes on Welfare Economics, Information and Uncertainty.” In Essays on Economic Behavior under Uncertainty, edited by Balch, M. S., McFadden, D., and Wu, S. Y.. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Mirrlees, James. 1982. “The Economic Uses of Utilitarianism.” In Sen and Williams (1982), pp. 6384.Google Scholar
Narveson, Jan. 1983. “On Dworkinian Equality.” Social Philosophy and Policy 1: 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, John. 1982. “Social Unity and Primary Goods.” Sen and Williams (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, John. 1982a. “Property Relations vs. Surplus Value in Marxian Exploitation.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 11: 281311.Google Scholar
Roemer, John. 1982b. “Exploitation, Alternatives, and Socialism.” Economic Journal 92: 87107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, John. 1985. “Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation?Philosophy and Public Affairs. 14: 3065.Google Scholar
Roemer, John. 1986. “Equality of Resources Implies Equality of Welfare.” Quarterly Journal of Economics. Forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, Amartya. 1977. “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 6: 317344.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya. 1979. “Utilitarianism and Welfarism.” Journal of Philosophy 76: 463489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, Amartya. 1980. “Equality of What?” In Tanner Lectures on Human Values I, edited by McMurrin, S.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya, and Williams, Bernard (Eds.). 1982. Utilitarianism and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, William, and Varian, Hal. 1985. “Theories of Justice based on Symmetry.” In Social Coals and Social Organization, edited by L. Hurwicz, D. Schmeidler, and H. Sonnenschein. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Tversky, Amos. 1981. “Choice, Preference and Welfare: Some Psychological Observations.” Department of Psychology, Stanford University (mimeo).Google Scholar
Tversky, Amos, and Kahneman, Daniel. 1979. “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk.” Econometrica 47: 263291.Google Scholar
Varian, Hal. 1974. “Equity, Envy, and Efficiency.” Journal of Economic Theory 9: 6391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar