“Near” Weighted Utilitarian Characterizations of Pareto Optima
Yeon-Koo Che, Jinwoo Kim, Fuhito Kojima, Christopher Thomas Ryan
Econometrica · 2024 · Volume 92 · Issue 1
Abstract
We give two characterizations of Pareto optimality via “near” weighted utilitarian welfare maximization. One characterization sequentially maximizes utilitarian welfare functions using a finite sequence of nonnegative and eventually positive welfare weights. The other maximizes a utilitarian welfare function with a certain class of positive hyperreal weights. The social welfare ordering represented by these “near” weighted utilitarian welfare criteria is characterized by the standard axioms for weighted utilitarianism under a suitable weakening of the continuity axiom.
Keywords
Pareto optima, weighted utilitarian welfare maximization, sequential utilitarian welfare maximization, hyperreal weights, weak continuity
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