Measuring Social Welfare

Reviews / Votes

Adler '91 explains how the social welfare function framework, a tool from theoretical economics, can guide governmental policymaking. According to Adler, the framework is more unbiased than a cost--benefit analysis and allows policymakers to consider both efficiency and equity. By combining economic and philosophical scholarship, Adler illuminates the framework's three dimensions: a well-being measure, a rule for ranking outcomes, and an uncertainty module. * Yale Law Report * Welfare theories and social choice theories certainly existed before Matthew Adler was born, but he is among the first to provide the means to bring this theoretical knowledge in welfare economics to a generalist audience, and to build bridges with the policy arena. Let us hope that this book transpires to be a crucial step in disseminating the social welfare approach. * Antoinette Baujard, OEconomia * Measuring Social Welfare is a stimulating read, full of practical implications, and it will be of interest to moral and political theorists, and anyone working on public policy. * Nicolas Cote, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice * The strength of this book is the parsimonious use of mathematical notations which makes it accessible for everyone with a minimal math knowledge. Despite its simplicity, it remains a stimulating reading for all economics scholars. I look forward to reading Adler's next book. * Domenico Moramarco, The Journal of Economic Inequality * A pathbreaking, state-of-the-art exploration of the idea of social welfare, with major theoretical advances and lots of implications for actual practice. A tremendous achievement."-Cass R. Sunstein, former Administrator, White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and author, On Freedom This important book is by a world leader in the study of social welfare. It provides an extremely useful introduction to a field that deserves a central place in all curricula. Everyone interested in public policy should be familiar with the insights and methods developed in Measuring Social Welfare. It enhances our ability to assess complex social situations, taking into account efficiency and equity simultaneously, and provides a toolkit that increases our ability to assess options, trade-offs, and fairness."-Marc Fleurbaey, Robert E. Kuenne Professor in Economics and Humanistic Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University