This paper develops an economic model to study the philosophical problem of evil. God's creation of the world is modeled as a problem of optimal incentives. A principal (God) must choose a world so that the populating agents behave according to his benevolent objective. In a world, the physical environment resembles a contract that determines the rewards and punishments for different choices. The agents' behavioral rule determines how they respond to these incentives. I characterize a contract and a behavioral rule that solve the principal's problem, and evil is evidenced. Specifically, evil endogenously aligns the agents' actions with the principal's objective. Other insights on the origin, cause, and role of evil are also derived from the model. The result of this analysis is a theodicy arisen from an economic model. As a byproduct, this paper shows how an economic model can be used to study philosophical or theological questions.

中文翻译：

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邪恶的问题：一种经济方法

本文开发了一个经济模型来研究邪恶的哲学问题。上帝创造世界被建模为一个最优激励问题。委托人（上帝）必须选择一个世界，以便人口代理按照他的仁慈目标行事。在一个世界中，物理环境类似于一个合同，它决定了不同选择的奖励和惩罚。代理人的行为规则决定了他们对这些激励的反应。我描述了解决委托人问题的契约和行为规则，并证明了邪恶。具体来说，邪恶内在地使代理人的行为与委托人的目标保持一致。关于邪恶的起源、原因和作用的其他见解也来自该模型。这种分析的结果是从经济模型中产生的神论。