scientific article; zbMATH DE number 194290
The text is devoted to investigating, on an axiomatic basis, the concept of social welfare in the societies with variable population sizes, and related topics. Quite an effort is invested in discussing the axioms underlying the treatment. After having discussed (in Ch. 2) conditions on social welfare ordering relations on the space of income distributions (non-negative n-vectors) in a society of fixed population size (n), the study proceeds to analyze (in Ch. 3) possible ways of introducing welfare comparisons in societies with variable population size (represented by \(\Omega =\sum_{n\in {\mathbb{N}}}{\mathbb{R}}^ n_+)\). In particular the (in)consistence and (in)dependence of axiomatic requirements in various combinations are examined. It turns out that it is difficult to express formally in a satisfactory way the concept of value judgements about distribution changes resulting from changes in population size. So, the core chapter (Ch. 4) of the study focusses on analyzing the change of social welfare resulting from the addition of one more person to society as a function of its initial income distribution. It is shown that under fairly moderate assumptions a sequence of so-called ``variable critical income level functions \(\alpha^ n\), \(n\in {\mathbb{N}}\), exists which leaves the welfare unchanged if a person with income \(\alpha^ n(y)\) is added to a society of income distribution \(y\in {\mathbb{R}}^ n_ t\). In general, \(\alpha^ n\), \(n\in {\mathbb{N}}\), is not unique. This allows value judgements to enter the choice of particular critical level functions. The rest of the chapter examines the logical relations between various axioms for an ordering on \(\Omega\) connected to specific critical level functions. Ch. 5 aims at defining a measure of income inequality linked to a social welfare ordering \(R_ w\). Inequality orderings \(R_ I\) defined on \({\bar \Omega}=\sum_{n\in {\mathbb{N}}}({\mathbb{R}}^ n_+\setminus \{0^ n_-\})\) are introduced. A number of theorems show how a social welfare ordering \(R_ w\) may be uniquely derived from \(R_ I\) and vice versa. It is also shown that the one-to-one correspondence thus established between \(R_ w\) and \(R_ I\) (together with an explicitation of the underlying set of value judgements) relates natural properties of \(R_ w\) to natural properties of \(R_ I.\) Finally, Ch. 6 provides a brief account of the possibilities of defining an ethical ordinal measure of proverty in income distributions in variable size societies. A proverty ordering associated with the social welfare ordering is suggested.
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- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 934581 (Why is no real title available?)
- Social evaluation with variable population size: An alternative concept
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