Skip to main content

Part of the book series: Studies in Choice and Welfare ((WELFARE))

  • 255 Accesses

Abstract

David Donaldson describes his graduate studies at Stanford with Kenneth Arrow and Hirofumi Uzawa, his meeting with Charles Blackorby, his collaborations with Walter Bossert and John Weymark, his work on utilitarianism, poverty measurement, inequality, commenting on John Harsanyi, John Broome and others.

The interview was conducted on October 20, 21 and 22, 2014, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Arrow (1970).

  2. 2.

    Arrow (1963/1963).

  3. 3.

    Sen (1970).

  4. 4.

    Blackorby et al. (1982).

  5. 5.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1984).

  6. 6.

    Archibald and Donaldson (1976a, b, 1979).

  7. 7.

    Barry and Rae (1975), Blackorby and Donaldson (1977).

  8. 8.

    Lorenz (1905).

  9. 9.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1978, 1980).

  10. 10.

    Roberts (1980a, b).

  11. 11.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1984).

  12. 12.

    Blackorby et al. (2005).

  13. 13.

    Donaldson and Pendakur (2014).

  14. 14.

    Donaldson and Pendakur (2004, 2006).

  15. 15.

    If utilities are individually cardinally measurable and interpersonally comparable at two utility levels, neutrality and a level above neutrality, for example, and if, for each individual, a utility function is chosen which is zero at neutrality and equal to an arbitrary positive number at the other level, numerically measurable, fully interpersonally comparable utilities result.

  16. 16.

    Parfit (1976, 1982, 1984, Chap. 19), Blackorby et al. (2005, pp. 4–5).

  17. 17.

    Blackorby et al. (2005, p. 159).

  18. 18.

    Blackorby et al. (1996).

  19. 19.

    Broome (2004).

  20. 20.

    Broome (2004).

  21. 21.

    Broome (2004, pp. 50–63), Rachels (1998), Temkin (2012).

  22. 22.

    Arrhenius (2000), Blackorby et al. (2005, p. 163).

  23. 23.

    Gorman (1968), Blackorby et al. (1978).

  24. 24.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1984).

  25. 25.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993a, b).

  26. 26.

    Boadway (1974).

  27. 27.

    PIGLOG stands for the logarithmic subclass of price-independent generalized linear (PIGL) preferences; Muellbauer (1975).

  28. 28.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1993b).

  29. 29.

    Donaldson and Pendakur (2004, 2006).

  30. 30.

    Blackorby et al. (1984).

  31. 31.

    Sen (1985).

  32. 32.

    Mill (1979a,b).

  33. 33.

    Singer (1979).

  34. 34.

    Singer (1975).

  35. 35.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1992).

  36. 36.

    Singer (1975).

  37. 37.

    Blackorby et al. (2005, Theorem 2.11).

  38. 38.

    Luce and Raiffa (1957).

  39. 39.

    Binmore (1977).

  40. 40.

    Binmore (1981a, b).

  41. 41.

    Donaldson and Weymark (1980).

  42. 42.

    Weymark (1981).

  43. 43.

    Bentham (1843, p. 501).

  44. 44.

    Goodin (1991).

  45. 45.

    Samuelson (1938a, b), Arrow (1959), Sen (1971).

  46. 46.

    Aczel (1966).

  47. 47.

    Blackorby et al. (2005).

  48. 48.

    Blackorby and Donaldson (1993a).

  49. 49.

    Allen and Rosenbluth (1986).

References

  • Aczél, J. (1966). Lectures on functional equations and their applications. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, R., & Rosenbluth, G. (1986). Restraining the economy: Social credit economic policies for B.C. in the eighties. Vancouver: New Star Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archibald, G., & Donaldson, D. (1976a). Non-paternalism and the basic theorems of welfare economics. Canadian Journal of Economics, 9, 492–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archibald, G., & Donaldson, D. (1976b). Paternalism and prices. In M. Allingham & M. Burstein (Eds.), Resource allocation and economic policy (pp. 26–34). London: MacMillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Archibald, G., & Donaldson, D. (1979). Notes on economic equality. Journal of Public Economics, 12, 205–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrhenius, G. (2000). An impossibility theorem for welfarist axiologies. Economics and Philosophy, 16, 247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. (1951). Social choice and individual values. New York: Wiley, second ed. 1963.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. (1959). Rational choice functions and orderings. Economica, 26, 121–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K. (1970). Essays in the theory of risk-bearing. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, B., & Rae, D. (1975). Political evaluation. In N. Polsby & F. Greenstein (Eds.), The handbook of political science (vol. 1). Addison-Wesley, Reading.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentham, J. (1843). Anarchical fallacies. In J. Bowring (Ed.), The works of Jeremy Bentham, Vol. II (pp. 489-534). Edinburgh: William Tait.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binmore, K. (1977). Mathematical analysis: A straightforward approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, second ed. 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binmore, K. (1981a). The Foundations of analysis: A straightforward introduction, Book 1 logic sets and numbers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Binmore, K. (1981b). The foundations of analysis: A straightforward introduction, Book 2 topological ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., Bossert, W., & Donaldson, D. (1996). Quasi-orderings and population ethics. Social Choice and Welfare, 13, 129–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., Bossert, W., & Donaldson, D. (2005). Population issues in social choice theory, welfare economics, and ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1977). Utility vs equity: Some plausible quasi-orderings. Journal of Public Economics, 7, 365–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1978). Measures of relative equality and their meaning in terms of social welfare. Journal of Economic Theory, 18, 59–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1980). A theoretical treatment of indices of absolute inequality. International Economic Review, 21, 107–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1984). Social criteria for evaluating population change. Journal of Public Economics, 25, 13–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1985). Consumers’ surpluses and consistent cost-benefit tests. Social Choice and Welfare, 1, 251–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1987). Welfare ratios and distributionally sensitive cost-benefit analysis. Journal of Public Economics, 34, 265–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1990). A review article: The case against the use of the sum of compensating variations in cost-benefit analysis. Canadian Journal of Economics, 23, 471–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1991). Adult-equivalence scales, interpersonal comparisons of well-being and applied welfare economics. In J. Elster & J. Roemer (Eds.), Interpersonal Comparisons of Well-Being (pp. 164–199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1992). Pigs and guinea pigs: A note on the ethics of animal exploitation. Economic Journal, 102, 1345–1369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1993a). Household equivalence scales and welfare comparisons: A comment. Journal of Public Economics, 50, 143–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., & Donaldson, D. (1993b). Adult-equivalence scales and the economic implementation of interpersonal comparisons of well-being. Social Choice and Welfare, 10, 335–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., Donaldson, D., & Weymark, J. (1982). A normative approach to industrial-performance evaluation and concentration indices. European Economic Review, 19, 89–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., Donaldson, D., & Weymark, J. (1984). Social choice with interpersonal utility comparisons: A diagrammatic introduction. International Economic Review, 25, 327–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackorby, C., Primont, D., & Russell, R. (1978). Duality, separability, and functional structure: Theory and economic applications. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boadway, R. (1974). The welfare foundations of cost-benefit analysis. Economic Journal, 84, 926–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broome, J. (2004). Weighing lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, D., & Pendakur, K. (2004). Equivalent-expenditure functions and expenditure-dependent equivalence scales. Journal of Public Economics, 88, 175–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, D., & Pendakur, K. (2006). The identification of fixed costs from consumer behavior. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 24, 255–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, D., & Pendakur, K. (2014). Applications of population principles: A note. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, D., & Weymark, J. (1980). A single-parameter generalization of the Gini indices of inequality. Journal of Economic Theory, 22, 67–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodin, R. (1991). Utility and the good. In P. Singer (Ed.), A companion to ethics (pp. 241–248). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman, W. (1968). The structure of utility functions. Review of Economic Studies, 32, 369–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz, M. (1905). Methods of measuring the concentration of wealth. Publications of the American Statistical Association, 9, 209–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luce, R., & Raiffa, H. (1957). Games and decisions. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J. (1979a). On liberty. In: J. Mill (Ed.), Utilitarianism; On Liberty; Essay on Bentham (pp. 126–250). Collins, Glasgow, originally published in 1859.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J. (1979b). Utilitarianism. In J. Mill (Ed.), Utilitarianism; On Liberty; Essay on Bentham (pp. 251–321). Collins, Glasgow, originally published in 1861.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muellbauer, J. (1975). Aggregation, income distribution and consumer demand. Review of Economic Studies, 42, 525–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parfit, D. (1976). On doing the best for our children. In M. Bayles (Ed.), Ethics and population (pp. 100–102). Cambridge: Schenkman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parfit, D. (1982). Future generations, further problems. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 11, 113–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parfit, D. (1984). Reasons and persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rachels, S. (1998). Counterexamples to the transitivity of better than. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 76, 71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, K. (1980a). Possibility theorems with interpersonally comparable welfare levels. Review of Economic Studies, 47, 409–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, K. (1980b). Interpersonal comparability and social choice theory. Review of Economic Studies, 47, 421–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson, P. (1938a). A note on the pure theory of consumer’s behavior. Economica, 5, 61–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson, P. (1938b). A note on the pure theory of consumer’s behavior: An addendum. Economica, 5, 353–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1970). Collective choice and social welfare. San Francisco: Holden-Day.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1971). Choice functions and revealed preference. Review of Economic Studies, 38, 307–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1985). Commodities and capabilities. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, P. (1975). Animal liberation: A new ethics for our treatment of animals. New York: Avon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, P. (1979). Practical ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temkin, L. (2012). Rethinking the good: Moral ideals and the nature of practical reasoning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Weymark, J. (1981). Generalized Gini inequality indices. Mathematical Social Sciences, 1, 409–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nick Baigent .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Baigent, N., Bossert, W. (2021). David Donaldson. In: Fleurbaey, M., Salles, M. (eds) Conversations on Social Choice and Welfare Theory - Vol. 1. Studies in Choice and Welfare. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62769-0_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics