Short Summary:
This paper studies the optimal design of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) policies in an economy where individuals differ in their reproductive capacity, or fecundity, and in their wage. We find that the optimal ART policy varies with the criterion used to assess societal welfare: “utilitarianism” (which favours the largest aggregate welfare in society, regardless of its distribution) leads to redistribute only between individuals with unequal fecundity and wages but not between parents and childless individuals; while “ex post egalitarianism” (which gives absolute priority to the actual worst-off) leads to redistribute from individuals with children toward those without children, and from individuals with high fecundity toward those with low fecundity.
Publication Authors: Marie-Louise Leroux, Pierre Pestieau and Gregory Ponthiere.
Number: 22-04
Year: 2022