This talk deals with the basic issue of selecting the “right” objective for a given resource allocation problem. The notion of what is “right” can be fairly nebulous; we consider two issues that we see as key: efficiency and fairness. We state a precise version of the selection problem and provide a quantitative understanding of the inherent tradeoff between efficiency and fairness that can guide a manager’s decision.

Our theoretical development is exemplified through a new, eminently implementable proposal for deceased donor kidney allocation rules. Specifically, we show how to design allocation policies that serve a selection of fairness objectives in the context of allocating kidneys for transplantation. We demonstrate how an allocation designed in such a fashion can substantially outperform the existing proposal under review by the Department of Health and Human Services while being no less equitable.