Functioning, capability and the standard of living -- an axiomatic approach (Q1865220)

Comparisons of a living standard traditionally take either an opulence or an utility approach. In the opulence view an agent's living standard is judged by his commanding of wealth and income. In the utility view of the living standard, an agent's standard is based on the utility generated by his consumption of commodities . Both above mentioned views have been critically discussed in the paper by \textit{A. K. Sen} [Commodities and capabilities. Amsterdam: North Holland (1985)] where he proposes a functioning-capability approach. In the present article Sen's approach to the problem of measuring the living standard is applied. According to Sen's method the living standard in the functioning-capability approach concerns both the freedom aspect of the living and the actual functioning of the living conditions. The author tried incorporate these two important ingredients of the living conditions into formulation of some axioms.