公共选择,还是经济选择?——基于多数规则下两种利益再分配的思考

人类生活中同时存在着公共选择和经济选择,两者除原有已提出的共性外,还应补充多数规则这一共性。原有理论只重视两者的共性而忽视了它们的区别,或是仅将其区别归结为偏好是否一致的假设。其实,两者的本质区别不在于偏好,而在于支付能力的完全不同:公共选择是人口选票,而经济选择是资源选票。人口选票只能统一约束偏好的强度而不是方向,资源选票不会统一约束偏好的强度和方向。两种选择在同一多数规则下都必然产生对多数有利的再分配。公共选择中是占人口少数的富人向占人口多数的穷人转移利益;经济选择中是持有少数资源的穷人向持有多数资源的富人转移利益。可见,由于各自支付能力的不同,在同一多数规则下两者再分配发生的利益转移方向完全相反,且两种选择产生两种不同的公平标准。

Public Choice,Or Economic Choice?——Reflection on Two Types of Interests Relocating Based on Majority Principle

There coexist two main types of choices,public one and economic one.Besides the established commonality of these two,majority principle should be seriously considered.The established theory only focuses on the commonality while ignoring the distinction,or simply boils down to the hypothesis of the consistence of preferences.In fact,the intrinsic distinction between these two is not the preferences but the utterly difference between the payment abilities:public choice involves population ballot,while economic choice concerns resource ballot.Population ballot can only unify the magnitude of the intensity preference instead of the direction,while resource ballot can not unify the intensity and direction of preference.These two choices are bound to have positive effect on majority under the majority principle.Public choice brings the positive interests-shifting from the minority rich to majority poor,while the economic choice generates the interests-shifting from resource deficient poor to resource abundant rich.It is clear that the shift of interests are heading the opposite direction,and the two relocating choices result in two different equity standards.