On the time consistency of collective preferences

Abstract

A dynamic model of collective consumption and saving decisions made by a finite number of agents with constant but different discount rates is developed. Collective utility is a weighted sum of individual utilities with time-varying utility weights. Under standard separability assumptions, it is shown that collective preferences may be nonstationary but still satisfy time consistency. The assumption of time-varying weights is key to balance the need of the group for a changing distribution of consumption among its members over time with their tolerance for consumption fluctuations.

arXiv comment33 pages; changes in notation and major corrections