Abstract
The article deals with the related, though distinct, notions of a social welfare function due to A. Bergson and P. Samuelson on the one hand and K.J. Arrow on the other. After introducing the two formal concepts, it gives a brief outline of Arrow’s well-known impossibility theorem, considers some alternative intuitive interpretations of the notion of a social welfare function, and discusses the informational bases of social welfare judgements.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume
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Pattanaik, P.K. (2008). Social Welfare Function. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1348-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1348-2
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5
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Chapter history
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Latest
Social Welfare Function- Published:
- 25 March 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1348-2
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Original
Social Welfare Function- Published:
- 22 December 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1348-1