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For example, a state with utility profile (0,100,100) has the same minimum value as a state with utility profile (0,0,0). In this case, the egalitarian rule often uses the leximin order , that is: subject to maximizing the smallest utility, it aims to maximize the next-smallest utility; subject to that, maximize the next-smallest utility, and ...
The notion of social utility is analogous to the notion of a utility function in consumer choice. However, a social welfare function is different in that it is a mapping of individual utility functions onto a single output, in a way that accounts for the judgments of everyone in a society.
Social choice theory is a branch of welfare economics that extends the theory of rational choice to collective decision-making. [1] Social choice studies the behavior of different mathematical procedures (social welfare functions) used to combine individual preferences into a coherent whole.
One extra unit of utility for a starving person is not seen to be of any greater value than an extra unit of utility for a millionaire. At the other extreme is the Max-Min, or Rawlsian utility function. [8] According to the Max-Min criterion, welfare is maximized when the utility of those society members that have the least is the greatest.
A single-attribute utility function maps the amount of money a person has (or gains), to a number representing the subjective satisfaction he derives from it. The motivation to define a utility function comes from the St. Petersburg paradox: the observation that people are not willing to pay much for a lottery, even if its expected monetary gain is infinite.
A Theory of Justice is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921–2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society).
The summarised formula for expected utility is () = where is the probability that outcome indexed by with payoff is realized, and function u expresses the utility of each respective payoff. [1] Graphically the curvature of the u function captures the agent's risk attitude.
[1]: 164 A useful property of the quasilinear utility function is that the Marshallian/Walrasian demand for , …, does not depend on wealth and is thus not subject to a wealth effect; [1]: 165–166 The absence of a wealth effect simplifies analysis [1]: 222 and makes quasilinear utility functions a common choice for modelling.