Conceptions of Individual Rights and Freedom in Welfare Economics: A Re-examination

This paper examines the literature in welfare economics with a focus on individual rights and freedom, two important components in welfare economics. The paper discusses conceptions of rights and freedom intuitively and presents a critical examination of the existing literature. Working Paper 07-3

Comparative Statics for a Consumer with Possibly Multiple Optimum Consumption Bundles

Non-positivity of the generalized substitution effect, non-positivity of the own-price substitution effect, homogeneity of degree zero in all prices and income, and the law of demand are some of the most primitive comparative static results in the standard revealed preference theory of consumers’ behaviour. These results are however derived for demand functions. The literature does not have corresponding comparative static results for the more plausible case of demand correspondences, where the consumer is permitted to have multiple chosen bundles in a given price-income situation. Using the revealed preference approach to the theory of consumers' behaviour, this note establishes such results for demand correspondences; the analysis can be readily adapted to prove corresponding results in the preference-based approach.demand correspondence, weak axiom of revealed preference, non-positivity of generalized substitution effect, non-positivity of own-price substitution effect, homogeneity of degree zero, law of demand

On procedures for measuring deprivation and living standards of societies in a multi-attribute framework

When a society's overall deprivation or living standard is assessed in a multi-attribute framework, the following procedure is often used. First, for each attribute, a summary index is constructed to reflect a society's performance in relation to this attribute. Then, an indicator of the overall performance of the society in terms of all the attributes together is constructed. This paper discusses a difficulty associated with this procedure. We show that the difficulty lies in its inability to reconcile two highly attractive ethical principles - the first reflecting a requirement of treating individuals symmetrically and the second reflecting a requirement for equity-sensitivity. This problem implies that this widely-used procedure must lead to possibly untenable conclusions, and that it is necessary to adopt alternative procedures. The alternative procedure must permit describing a society's overall deprivation or living standard as an aggregate of the comprehensive deprivations or living standards experienced by the individuals in the society. Working Paper 08-0

Choice, internal consistency, and rationality

The classical theory of rational choice is built on several important internal consistency conditions. In recent years, the reasonableness of those internal consistency conditions has been questioned and criticized, and several responses to accommodate such criticisms have been proposed in the literature. This paper develops a general framework to accommodate the issues raised by the criticisms of classical rational choice theory, and examines the broad impact of these criticisms from both normative and positive points of view.

Book review: COVID-19 and psychology: people and society in times of pandemic by John G. Haas

In COVID-19 and Psychology: People and Society in Times of Pandemic, John G. Haas explores the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at all levels of society. This book will be useful for those in the social sciences, policymakers and the general public looking to understand how to build resilience through social support and combat the fear of the pandemic, writes Nupur Pattanaik