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We study the interplay between intragenerational and intergenerational equity in an economy with two countries producing and consuming from national capital stocks. We characterize the sustainable development path that a social planner would implement to achieve intertemporal egalitarianism. If intergenerational equity is defined with respect to the global consumption of each generation, regardless of its distribution between countries, consumption in the poor country should be set as low as possible to maximize investment and hasten convergence, resulting in important intragenerational inequalities. When social welfare accounts for intragenerational equity, the larger the intragenerational inequality aversion (IIA), the smaller the sacrifice asked of the poor country, but the lower the sustained level of generational welfare. Along the intertemporal welfare-egalitarian path with IIA, consumption in the poor country increases, while it decreases in the rich country, resulting in a global degrowth.

A sizeable body of literature on climate economics utilizes the notion of inequality aversion. We review and synthesize published estimates of inequality aversion to guide this literature. We review both axiomatic and empirical studies, accordingly our findings draw on different lines of evidence. In the former case, a variety of ethical principles underlie the recommendations for positive inequality aversion. The latter studies use various methods to present estimates based on some form of "revealed ethics," for example by looking at existing progressive income tax-schedules or the level of foreign aid. Here we find strong support for the view that inequality aversion is positive (but potentially small) and very little support for any value larger than three. The vast majority of studies that look at domestic policies support values between one and two, whereas studies that look at foreign aid find lower values ranging from above zero to unity.

This dissertation proposes to show the interest of considering simultaneously intra and intergenerational equity for environmental resources management issues. More specifically, the dissertation examines the trade-offs between these two dimensions of equity to define an equitable allocation of resources over time and within generations. Inequalities between two heterogeneous regions are considered. The first chapter focuses on sustaining the highest level of welfare over time, through the maximin criterion, when the economy has an intragenerational inequality aversion. Counter-intuitively, the region with the lower resource stock pays a higher price for overall sustainability. The second chapter examines growth toward the maximum sustainable level of welfare, the golden rule. Similarly, the region with the lower resource stock shall contribute more to the growth, by limiting relatively more its consumption. The third chapter examines the transfers that shall be made from the well-off to the worse-off region. The transfer shall either be a lump-sum or proportional to the consumption of the contributing region, depending on whether the objective is to promote or to limit its consumption. In any case, the worst-off region receives a compensatory transfer for the constraint imposed on it., Cette thèse se propose de montrer l’intérêt de considérer simultanément l’équité intra et intergénérationnelle pour des questions liées à la gestion des ressources environnementales. Plus spécifiquement, la thèse examine les arbitrages entre ces deux dimensions de l’équité pour définir une distribution juste des ressources au cours du temps et au sein des générations. Les inégalités sont considérées à travers deux régions hétérogènes. Le premier chapitre se focalise sur le maintien du niveau maximal de bien-être au cours du temps, à travers le critère maximin, lorsque l’économie a une aversion aux inégalités intragénérationnelles. De manière contre-intuitive, la région la moins dotée en ressources paye un plus lourd tribut pour la durabilité globale. Le second chapitre étudie la croissance vers le niveau maximal soutenable de bien-être, la règle d’or. De la même manière, la région la moins dotée en ressources doit contribuer davantage à cette croissance, en limitant relativement plus sa consommation. Le troisième chapitre étudie les transferts qui doivent être opérés de la région relativement mieux lotie vers celle moins bien lotie. Le transfert doit être soit forfaitaire soit proportionnel à la consommation de la région contributrice, selon que l’objectif est de favoriser ou de limiter sa consommation. Dans tous les cas, la région la plus défavorisée reçoit un transfert compensatoire pour la contrainte qui lui est imposée.

This dissertation proposes to show the interest of considering simultaneously intra and intergenerational equity for environmental resources management issues. More specifically, the dissertation examines the trade-offs between these two dimensions of equity to define an equitable allocation of resources over time and within generations. Inequalities between two heterogeneous regions are considered. The first chapter focuses on sustaining the highest level of welfare over time, through the maximin criterion, when the economy has an intragenerational inequality aversion. Counter-intuitively, the region with the lower resource stock pays a higher price for overall sustainability. The second chapter examines growth toward the maximum sustainable level of welfare, the golden rule. Similarly, the region with the lower resource stock shall contribute more to the growth, by limiting relatively more its consumption. The third chapter examines the transfers that shall be made from the well-off to the worse-off region. The transfer shall either be a lump-sum or proportional to the consumption of the contributing region, depending on whether the objective is to promote or to limit its consumption. In any case, the worst-off region receives a compensatory transfer for the constraint imposed on it., Cette thèse se propose de montrer l'intérêt de considérer simultanément l'équité intra et intergénérationnelle pour des questions liées à la gestion des ressources environnementales. Plus spécifiquement, la thèse examine les arbitrages entre ces deux dimensions de l’équité pour définir une distribution juste des ressources au cours du temps et au sein des générations. Les inégalités sont considérées à travers deux régions hétérogènes. Le premier chapitre se focalise sur le maintien du niveau maximal de bien-être au cours du temps, à travers le critère maximin, lorsque l'économie a une aversion aux inégalités intragénérationnelles. De manière contre-intuitive, la région la moins dotée en ressources paye un plus lourd tribut pour la durabilité globale. Le second chapitre étudie la croissance vers le niveau maximal soutenable de bien-être, la règle d'or. De la même manière, la région la moins dotée en ressources doit contribuer davantage à cette croissance, en limitant relativement plus sa consommation. Le troisième chapitre étudie les transferts qui doivent être opérés de la région relativement mieux lotie vers celle moins bien lotie. Le transfert doit être soit forfaitaire soit proportionnel à la consommation de la région contributrice, selon que l'objectif est de favoriser ou de limiter sa consommation. Dans tous les cas, la région la plus défavorisée reçoit un transfert compensatoire pour la contrainte qui lui est imposée.

Evaluating the sustainability of a society requires a system of shadow or accounting values derived from the sustainability objective. As a first step toward the derivation of such shadow values for a maximin objective, this paper studies an economy composed of two reproducible assets, each producing one of two consumption goods. The effect of the substitutability between goods in utility is studied by postulating, in turn, neoclassical diminishing marginal substitutability, perfect substitutability and perfect complementarity. The degree of substitutability has strong effects on the maximin solution, affecting the regularity or non-regularity of the program, and on the accounting values. This has important consequences for the computation of genuine savings and the sustainability prospects of future generations.