NE&EP webinar: TOMORROW, Monday 6th, Nicolas Treich on Welfare and Replaceability

[may...@gmail.com]

Dear all,

 

Our next webinar will be on Monday, October 6th, at 11am EST\ 5pm Paris, with Nicolas Treich (TSE) presenting:

 

Welfare and Replaceability (joint with Frédéric Cherbonnier)

Abstract: Consider two scenarios: (1) a single individual lives for two periods with utilities x and y, and (2) one individual lives for one period with utility x, followed by another individual who lives for one period with utility y. One may argue that these scenarios are equivalent for social welfare, with the loss from the shorter life offset by the creation of a new one. Applied to animals, this reflects the controversial "replaceability argument" (Singer 1993) in moral philosophy, which justifies animal farming. In this paper, we characterize the conditions on the social welfare function and individual utilities under which such welfare equivalence holds, and more generally when one scenario is preferred. Our results show that replaceability is favored under several circumstances, including higher per-period utility levels, stronger inequality aversion, and lower critical levels. The analysis thus clarifies when social welfare is, or is not, better advanced by extending existing lives rather than by creating new ones.

You can join the webinar with the following link: https://uio.zoom.us/j/64578767755

 

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

 

All the best,

 

Maya Eden and Paolo Piacquadio