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Hicksian Surplus Measures of Individual Welfare Change When There is Price and Income Uncertainty

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Rational Choice and Social Welfare

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

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When there is no uncertainty, it is well known that the Hicksian compensating and equivalent variations are exact measures of individual welfare change. That is, the sign of either of these measures of Hicksian consumer’s surplus correctly identifies whether a change in prices and income makes an individual consumer better or worse off.1 It is also well known that Marshallian consumer’s surplus is not an exact measure of individual welfare change except under restrictive assumptions.2

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Blackorby, C., Donaldson, D., Weymark, J.A. (2008). Hicksian Surplus Measures of Individual Welfare Change When There is Price and Income Uncertainty. In: Pattanaik, P.K., Tadenuma, K., Xu, Y., Yoshihara, N. (eds) Rational Choice and Social Welfare. Studies in Choice and Welfare. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79832-3_11

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