Edited by
Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
A.K. Sen, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Kotaro Suzumura, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Description
The Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare presents, in two volumes, essays on past and on-going work in social choice theory and welfare
economics. The first volume consists of four parts. In Part 1 (Arrovian Impossibility Theorems), various aspects of Arrovian general
impossibility theorems, illustrated by the simple majority cycle first identified by Condorcet, are expounded and evaluated. It also
provides a critical survey of the work on different escape routes from impossibility results of this kind. In Part 2 (Voting Schemes
and Mechanisms), the operation and performance of voting schemes and cost-sharing mechanisms are examined axiomatically, and some aspects
of the modern theory of incentives and mechanism design are expounded and surveyed. In Part 3 (structure of social choice rules), the
positional rules of collective decision-making (the origin of which can be traced back to a seminal proposal by Borda), the game-theoretic
aspects of voting in committees, and the implications of making use of interpersonal comparisons of welfare (with or without cardinal
measurability) are expounded, and the status of utilitarianism as a theory of justice is critically examined. It also provides an analytical
survey of the foundations of measurement of inequality and poverty. In order to place these broad issues (as well as further issues
to be discussed in the second volume of the Handbook) in perspective, Kotaro Suzumura has written an extensive introduction, discussing
the historical background of social choice theory, the vistas opened by Arrow's
Social Choice and Individual Values, the famous
"socialist planning" controversy, and the theoretical and practical significance of social choice theory. The primary purpose of this
Handbook is to provide an accessible introduction to the current state of the art in social choice theory and welfare economics. The
expounded theory has a strong and constructive message for pursuing human well-being and facilitating collective decision-making.
Included in series
Handbooks in Economics
Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare
