Living with unfairness:The limits of equal opportunity in a market economy

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Sugden, R. (2004) Living with unfairness:The limits of equal opportunity in a market economy. Social Choice and Welfare, 22 (1). pp. 211-236. ISSN 0176-1714

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Abstract

Equality of opportunity is often presented as a criterion which reconciles egalitarianism with principles of freedom and responsibility. This paper distinguishes between the principle of 'starting-line equality', which requires that everyone's initial opportunities, assessed in relation to what is publicly known ex ante, are equal, and the principle that equal efforts should yield equal ex post rewards. It argues that the first principle is compatible with allocation of resources through markets but, because of the division of knowledge, the second is not. If we want the opportunities which markets give us, we have to accept ex post unfairness.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economics
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Economic Theory Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Behavioural Economics
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2013 13:46
Last Modified:	18 Apr 2023 23:44
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/44549
DOI:	10.1007/s00355-003-0283-1

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