We are grateful to Marc Fleurbaey, Xander Koolman, Tom van Ourti, Alain Trannoy, and two
anonymous referees for their comments on previous drafts. Han Bleichrodt’s research was made
possible by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Eddy van
Doorslaer acknowledges support of the EU funded project “The dynamics of income, health and
inequality over the life cycle” (known as the ECuity III Project with contract nr QLK6-CT-2002-
02297).