This paper investigates the relationship between economic theory and theories of justice in the design of public policy. In particular, it focuses on the role of mechanism design in policy contexts beset with issues of social, racial and distributive justice. Economists’ involvement in redesigning Boston’s algorithm for allocating K-12 students to public schools serves as an instructive case study. The paper draws on the distinction between ideal theory and non-ideal theory in political philosophy and the concept of performativity in economic sociology to argue that mechanism design can enact elaborate ideal theories of justice. A normative gap thus emerges between the goals of the policymakers and the objectives of economic designs. As a result, mechanism design may obstruct stakeholders’ avenues for normative criticism of public policies, and serve as a technology of depoliticization.

中文翻译：

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规范的鸿沟：机制设计与正义的理想理论

本文探讨了公共政策设计中经济理论与正义理论之间的关系。特别是，它侧重于机制设计在受社会、种族和分配正义问题困扰的政策环境中的作用。经济学家参与重新设计波士顿将 K-12 学生分配到公立学校的算法是一个具有启发性的案例研究。论文提出了两者之间的区别理想理论和非理想理论在政治哲学和概念表演性在经济社会学中论证机制设计可以制定详尽的理想正义理论。一种规范差距因此出现在决策者的目标和经济设计的目标之间。因此，机制设计可能会阻碍利益相关者对公共政策进行规范批评的途径，并作为一种去政治化的技术。