Oxford Economic Papers Advance Access originally published online on January 6, 2007
Oxford Economic Papers 2007 59(2):354-374; doi:10.1093/oep/gpl030
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© Oxford University Press 2007 All rights reserved
Minimal relativism, dominance, and standard of living comparisons based on functionings

*Department of Economics, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; e-mail: prasanta.pattanaik{at}ucr.edu
Georgia State University USA, and Central University of Finance and Economics, China.
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This paper considers the functioning approach to the standard of living. It shows that, in evaluating standards of living, one is faced with deep-rooted tensions between the principle of weak dominance and the principle of minimal relativism, which requires some minimal respect for differences between the evaluations of different individuals and/or the differences between the norms of different communities.
Key Words: JEL classifications: D63 D71 I31