Refine
Year of publication
- 1996 (20) (remove)
Document Type
- Monograph/Edited Volume (12)
- Article (8)
Language
- English (20) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (20) (remove)
Institute
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften (20) (remove)
Small and medium-sized companies in economic growth : theory and policy implications for Germany
(1996)
The value concept of traditional resource economics is welfare. Therefore, sustainability of welfare is often taken to characterise our obligations to future generations. This paper argues that this view is inappropriate because it leaves no room for future generations autonomy. Future generations should be free to make their own decisions. Consequently freedom of choice is the appropriate value concept on which resource economics should be based. The concept of sustainability receives a new interpretation. Sustainability is a principle of intertemporal distributive justice which requires equitable opportunities across generations.
Of Rawls's two principles of justice only the second has received attention from economists. The second principle is concerned with the social and economic conditions in a just society. The first principle, however, has largely been neglected. It claims, that all people in society should have equal basic liberties. In this paper Rawls's first principle is characterised in a freedom of choice framework. The analysis reveals conceptual problems of the Rawlsian approach to justice.