Abstract
Suppose I am left with a ticket to a Mozart concert I am unable to attend and decide to give it to one of my closest friends. Which friend should I actually give it to? One thing I will surely consider in deciding this is which friend of mine would enjoy the concert most. More generally, when we decide as private individuals whom to help, or decide as voters or as public officials who are to receive government help, one natural criterion we use is who would derive the greatest benefit, that is, who would derive the highest utility, from this help. But to answer this last question we must make, or at least attempt to make, interpersonal utility comparisons.
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© 1991 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Harsanyi, J.C. (1991). Interpersonal Utility Comparisons. In: Eatwell, J., Milgate, M., Newman, P. (eds) The World of Economics. The New Palgrave. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21315-3_45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-21315-3_45
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