On the existence of altruistic value and utility functions

What is it about?

Value and utility functions are often used in practice to model the preferences of a decision maker. However, it is not obvious that these functions exist when the decision maker cares about other individuals' outcomes as well, as the preference conditions that are typically assumed are much stronger when outcomes span multiple people. This paper provides less restrictive sets of preference conditions that lead to the existence of altruistic value and utility functions.

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Why is it important?

Applying altruistic value and utility functions is useful for aiding a wide range of pro-social decisions. This paper provides a theoretical foundation for the approach.