Along with the renewed interest in the Austrian school of economics over the last two decades, important advances have been made in applying its princples to concrete issues that typically face market economics. However, very little has been done in the area of externalities and the concept of social efficiency. The overarching purpose of this book is to establish a sound theoretical basis for further empirical and public policy analysis in the area of externalities. In order to do this, a general theory of welfare economics is required. The author offers an alternative to the conventional neoclassical welfare paradigm -- his construct does not include perfect competition or general equilibrium. After the author develops his theory of welfare economics, he interprets externalities in light of the theory and discusses policy remedies and directions for further research.
"The problem of externalities and efficiency is cited relentlessly in mainstream literature as the great rationale for government intervention. The Austrian School, however, rooted in an understanding of the competitive process, takes another approach: viewing these supposed problems as having market-based solutions. In Efficiency and Externalities in an Open-Ended Universe, author Roy Cordato elucidates the Austrian view and expands it. He relies strongly on the work of Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner to address the modern arguments, showing that there is no standard by which we can judge efficiency apart from the market standard, and no way to adjudicate property rights apart from exchange relationships. This is an important contribution to Austrian literature, the most thorough and extensive study on a topic that is generally treated as a blank check for government to run roughshod over market institutions. No serious student of the market process can afford not to absorb the analytics and lessons of this book." -- from Mises Institute website
"The problem of externalities and efficiency is cited relentlessly in mainstream literature as the great rationale for government intervention. The Austrian School, however, rooted in an understanding of the competitive process, takes another approach: viewing these supposed problems as having market-based solutions. In Efficiency and Externalities in an Open-Ended Universe, author Roy Cordato elucidates the Austrian view and expands it. He relies strongly on the work of Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner to address the modern arguments, showing that there is no standard by which we can judge efficiency apart from the market standard, and no way to adjudicate property rights apart from exchange relationships. This is an important contribution to Austrian literature, the most thorough and extensive study on a topic that is generally treated as a blank check for government to run roughshod over market institutions. No serious student of the market process can afford not to absorb the analytics and lessons of this book." -- from Mises Institute website
This book covers the main topics of welfare economics - general equilib rium models of exchange and production, Pareto optimality, externalities and public goods - and some of the major topic of social choice the ory - compensation criteria, fairness, voting, Arrow's Theorem, and stra tegic behavior. The underlying question is this: "Is a particular economic or voting mechanism good or bad for society?" Welfare economics is mainly about whether the market mechanism is good or bad; social choice is largely about whether voting mechanisms can improve upon the results of the market. The book grew out of my undergraduate welfare economics course at Brown University, and it is intended for the undergraduate student who has some prior familiarity with microeconomics. However the book is also use ful for graduate students and professionals, economists and non-econo mists, who want an overview of welfare and social choice results unbur dened by detail and mathematical complexity.
The Welfare Economics of Public Policy is a great book that should be of interest to all economists interested in applied welfare analysis. It is a good reference book for economists studying the effects of public policy. Finally, it should be a useful textbook for students studying economic policy and applied welfare economics. Jean-Paul Chavas, American Journal of Agricultural Economics . . . a very comprehensive overview of the state of the art in welfare economics. It can be used as a teaching book for advanced students as well as a reference volume for researchers. This duality of possible uses is supported by the fact that very complex issues are presented in an easily readable manner. More technical aspects are then outlined in the appendices of the relevant chapters, offering colleagues the option to study formal considerations in more detail. . . a welcome addition to and expression of the knowledge base of agricultural economics. Stefan Mann, Journal of Agricultural Economics I am absolutely delighted that the authors have revised and republished this text. I have used the previous version for years in my graduate environmental economics course; usually I had to share the one copy I have with students and I felt it was a shame that these students did not have the opportunity to purchase the book since every serious environmental economist should have this volume on their shelf. It has been a continuous reference volume for me over the years and I am sure this is true of many others in the discipline. In the field of applied welfare analysis (spanning environmental economics, international trade, agricultural policy, etc.) there is no need for further elaboration when Just, Hueth and Schmitz is referenced. Everyone knows the book that is being referred to: the bible of applied welfare economics. Catherine Kling, Iowa State University, US For the record, I am one of the people who requested that the authors revise and re-issue their textbook. It is an extremely valuable book for applied economists; as with the previous edition, I will use it extensively in two of my courses and consult it frequently in my own research endeavors. Richard Adams, Oregon State University, US The original book is very well known in our profession and is still used in many classes. It will be wonderful to have a revised edition of this classic book. Colin Carter, University of California, Davis, US This outstanding text, a follow-up to the authors award-winning 1982 text, provides a thorough treatment of economic welfare theory and develops a complete theoretical and empirical framework for applied project and policy evaluation. The authors illustrate how this theory can be used to develop policy analysis from both theory and estimation in a variety of areas including: international trade, the economics of technological change, agricultural economics, the economics of information, environmental economics, and the economics of extractive and renewable natural resources. Building on willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures as the foundation for applied welfare economics, the authors develop measures for firms and households where households are viewed as both consumers and owner/sellers of resources. Possibilities are presented for (1) approximating WTP with consumer surplus, (2) measuring WTP exactly subject to errors in existing econometric work, and (3) using duality theory to specify econometric equations consistent with theory. Later chapters cover specific areas of welfare measurement under imperfect competition, uncertainty, incomplete information, externalities, and dynamic considerations. Applications are considered explicitly for policy issues related to information, international trade, the environment, agriculture, and other natural resource issues. The Welfare Economics of Public Policy is ideal for graduate and undergraduate courses in applied welfare economics, public policy, agricultural policy, and environmental economi
This book covers the main topics of welfare economics — general equilibrium models of exchange and production, Pareto optimality, un certainty, externalities and public goods — and some of the major topics of social choice theory — compensation criteria, fairness, voting. Arrow's Theorem, and the theory of implementation. The underlying question is this: "Is a particular economic or voting mechanism good or bad for society?" Welfare economics is mainly about whether the market mechanism is good or bad; social choice is largely about whether voting mechanisms, or other more abstract mechanisms, can improve upon the results of the market. This second edition updates the material of the first, written by Allan Feldman. It incorporates new sections to existing first-edition chapters, and it includes several new ones. Chapters 4, 6, 11, 15 and 16 are new, added in this edition. The first edition of the book grew out of an undergraduate welfare economics course at Brown University. The book is intended for the undergraduate student who has some prior familiarity with microeconomics. However, the book is also useful for graduate students and professionals, economists and non-economists, who want an overview of welfare and social choice results unburdened by detail and mathematical complexity. Welfare economics and social choice both probably suffer from ex cessively technical treatments in professional journals and monographs.
This innovative history of welfare economics challenges the view that welfare economics can be discussed without taking ethical values into account. Whatever their theoretical commitments, when economists have considered practical problems relating to public policy, they have adopted a wider range of ethical values, whether equality, justice, freedom, or democracy. Even canonical authors in the history of welfare economics are shown to have adopted ethical positions different from those with which they are commonly associated. Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values explores the reasons and implications of this, drawing on concepts of welfarism and non-welfarism developed in modern welfare economics. The authors exemplify how economic theory, public affairs and political philosophy interact, challenging the status quo in order to push economists and historians to reconsider the nature and meaning of welfare economics.
