This clear and balanced introduction to welfare economics reflects the most recent advances in the field. Designed for third-year undergraduate and graduate courses, it offers an extensive treatment of both the theory of welfare economics and the techniques for applying that theory to real problems.

The first part of the book presents a synthesis of the theory. Starting from the premise that the purpose of theory is to provide criteria for ordering alternative economic states, the authors analyse the relationship between individual and social orderings. They discuss the...