Selfishness and Altruism in the Distribution of Travel Time and Income

1th International Association of Travel Behaviour Research Conference in Kyoto, August 2006

19 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2011

See all articles by Nebiyou Tilahun

Nebiyou Tilahun

affiliation not provided to SSRN

David Matthew Levinson

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: 2006

Abstract

Most economic models assume that individuals act out their preferences based on their own self interest. However there have also been other paradigms in the economics literature that have tried to capture alternative manifestations of human behavior that include fairness. This study examines people’s preferences when it comes to their travel time and their income and what type of trade offs they are willing to make to live in a society where the distributions of travel time and income are fairer. Using a stated preference experiment we find that when it comes to travel time, individuals are more concerned with societal average travel time, followed by their own travel time and finally by large inequalities in the society, while in the case of income they are more concerned with their own income, followed by societal average and finally by inequality.

Keywords: Fairness, Inequality, Travel Time, Income, Altruism, Stated Preference, Veil of ignorance, Equity, Time equity, Income Equity, Time distribution, Income Distribution

JEL Classification: R40, R41, D63, O15

Suggested Citation

Tilahun, Nebiyou and Levinson, David Matthew, Selfishness and Altruism in the Distribution of Travel Time and Income (2006). 1th International Association of Travel Behaviour Research Conference in Kyoto, August 2006 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1743637

Nebiyou Tilahun

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

David Matthew Levinson (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
33
Abstract Views
865
PlumX Metrics