Any Non-Individualistic Social Welfare Function Violates the Pareto Principle

Louis Kaplow, Steven Shavell

NBER Working Paper No. 7051
Issued in March 1999
NBER Program(s):   LE   PE

The public at large, many policymakers, and some economists hold views of social welfare that attach some importance to factors other than individuals' utilities. This note shows that any such non-individualistic notion of social welfare conflicts with the Pareto principle.

(458 K)

Published: Kaplow, Louis and Steven Shavell. "Any Non-Welfarist Method Of Policy Assessment Violates The Pareto Principle," Journal of Political Economy, 2001, v109(2,Apr), 281-286.

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