Revealed meta-preferences : axiomatic foundations of normative assessments in the capability approach
<p>This paper explores the possibility of defining a non-utilitarian normative standard for assessments of welfare and deprivation. The paper contributes to this end in three ways. First, the paper formalises a key aspect of Prof. Sen’s critique of neoclassical welfare economics, regarding the...
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| Format: | Working paper |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI)
2011
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| Summary: | <p>This paper explores the possibility of defining a non-utilitarian normative standard for assessments of welfare and deprivation. The paper contributes to this end in three ways. First, the paper formalises a key aspect of Prof. Sen’s critique of neoclassical welfare economics, regarding the assumption of consistent utility-maximisation in the revealed preference theory. Secondly, the paper explores alternative formulations of the axiom of revealed preferences that are consistent with Prof. Sen’s critique and proposes a set of intuitive assumptions to characterise the relation between observed choices and underlying preferences in the absence of consistent utility-maximisation. Finally, we use these to construct two alternative normative ranking rules that can be used in empirical applications of Prof. Sen’s so-called capability approach.</p> |
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