Endogenous social discount rate, proportional carbon tax, and sustainability: Do we have the right to discount future generations' utility?

摘要

Background This paper examines a serious issue - whether future generations of utility should be discounted. The issue is of vital importance because future generations will never have the opportunity to reveal their preference regarding the current resource allocation and yet this will ultimately affect their utility. This paper addresses with this issue in the context of the phenomenon of global warming that is crucially connected with the emission and accumulation of CO2.