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W Bossert

Publications and source records attributed to W Bossert.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Birth-date dependent population ethics: critical-level principles.

"This paper investigates birth-date dependent principles for social evaluation in an intertemporal framework in which population size may vary. We weaken the strong Pareto principle in order to allow individuals' birth dates to matter in establishing a social ordering. Using the axiom independence of the utilities of the dead, we characterize population principles with a recursive structure. If the individual substitution principle and an individual intertemporal equivalence axiom are added, birth-date dependent generalizations of the critical-level generalized utilitarian principles result. Stationarity leads to the special case of geometric discounting."

Delivery, Obstetric↗
PubMed1996

Leximin population ethics.

This paper concerns the ethical issues that arise when policy decisions have to be taken that affect population size and characteristics. Such policies include social security systems, intertemporal resource allocation decisions, and policies designed to influence fertility rates. The authors provide characterizations of Leximin principles for social evaluation in an intertemporal framework, so that they can be used to compare social alternatives with different population sizes. "The main axioms used in our characterizations are Hammond Equity together with Independence of the Utilities of the Dead (a plausible intertemporal consistency requirement) for the Critical-Level Leximin principles, and Positional Leximin Consistency (an axiom that allows non-constant critical levels) for the Positional-Extension Leximin principle. The performance of these principles is compared in the pure population problem and we argue that the Critical-Level Leximin principles are ethically more attractive than Positional-Extension Leximin."

Demography↗
PubMed1995

Intertemporal population ethics: critical-level utilitarian principles.

"This paper considers the problem of social evaluation in a model where population size, individual lifetime utilities, lengths of life, and birth dates vary across states. In an intertemporal framework, we investigate principles for social evaluation that allow history to matter to some extent. Using an axiom called independence of the utilities of the dead, we provide a characterization of critical-level generalized utilitarian rules. As a by-product of our analysis, we show that social discounting is ruled out in an intertemporal welfarist environment. A simple population-planning example is also discussed."

Ethics↗
PubMed1991

[Analysis of health care needs and evaluation five years after severe brain injuries].

Five years after severe head injury with persistent and extensive deficits of brain functions and loss of working capacity, an assessment and analysis of demand was performed with 31 patients and their relatives. The main impairments consist in the severe changes of personality and in cognitive deficits; they contrast with the spare physical handicaps. A main demand of the relatives are local family groups which are still lacking in many parts of the country.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

Social evaluation with variable population size: an alternative concept.

This paper deals with some consequences of certain population changes on social welfare considerations. In particular, a general concept for expressing value judgments about how the addition of 1 further agent to some given society should affect social welfare and a replication invariance condition are introduced and discussed. An axiomatic framework for welfare orderings based on a generalized averaging procedure applied to individual utilities is provided.

Behavior↗
PubMed1967

The effect of the unstirred layer on human red cell water permeability.

A study has been made of water entry into human red blood cells under an osmotic pressure gradient. The measurements were made using a rapid reaction stop flow apparatus, whose construction, calibration, and performance are described in detail. Red cell volume changes were determined from 90 degrees scattered light. The permeability coefficient for water entry under a relative isosmolar concentration of 1 to 1.5 was found to be 0.22 +/- 0.01 cm(4)/sec osmol, which agrees well with our previously published value. The experiments were also designed to measure the thickness of the unstirred layer around the6 red cells. This was found to be 5.5 +/- 0.8 micro under the present experimental conditions. It is concluded that our previously measured permeability coefficient for water entrance under a diffusion gradient does not require correction on account of the unstirred layer.

Biological Transport↗