Evaluating Allocations of Freedom

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sher, Itai
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Irvine
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12455
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: F65-F94
• 关键词: preference; CHOICE

摘要

This article develops a formal approach to evaluating freedom in interactive settings based on the literatures on preference for flexibility and measurement of diversity. The approach posits that the value of freedom has an instrumental component - grounded in preferences - and an intrinsic component. The philosophical justification of the approach is considered and potential conflicts between freedom and efficiency are explored. On a technical level, the article extends the notion of a diversity measure to menus of lotteries, which is what is needed to evaluate freedom when many agents seek flexibility simultaneously.