Population Issues in Social Choice Theory, Welfare Economics,... - 9780521825511

Population Issues in Social Choice Theory, Welfare Economics, and EthicsAuthor(s): Charles Blackorby, Walter Bossert, David J. Donaldson\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521825511, 978-0521825511\nSynopsis\nThis book presents an exploration of the idea of the common or social good, extended so that alternatives with different populations can be ranked. The approach is, in the main, welfarist, basing rankings on the well-being, broadly conceived, of those who are alive (or ever lived). The axiomatic method is employed, and topics investigated include: the measurement of individual well-being, social attitudes toward inequality of well-being, the main classes of population principles, principles that provide incomplete rankings, principles that rank uncertain alternatives, best choices from feasible sets, and applications. The chapters are divided, with mathematical arguments confined to the seco.