In
welfare economics
Welfare economics is a branch of economics that uses microeconomic techniques to evaluate well-being (welfare) at the aggregate (economy-wide) level.
Attempting to apply the principles of welfare economics gives rise to the field of public econ ...
, the compensation principle refers to a decision rule used to select between pairs of alternative feasible social states. One of these states is the hypothetical point of departure ("the original state"). According to the compensation principle, if the prospective gainers could compensate (any) prospective losers and leave no one worse off, the alternate state is to be selected (Chipman, 1987, p. 524). An example of a compensation principle is the
Pareto criterion
Pareto efficiency or Pareto optimality is a situation where no action or allocation is available that makes one individual better off without making another worse off. The concept is named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), Italian civil engine ...
in which a change in states entails that such compensation is not merely feasible but required. Two variants are:
* the Pareto principle, which requires any change such that ''all'' gain.
* the (strong) Pareto criterion, which requires any change such that ''at least one'' gains and no one loses from the change.
In non-hypothetical contexts such that the compensation occurs (say in the marketplace), invoking the compensation principle is unnecessary to effect the change. But its use is more controversial and complex with some losers (where full compensation is feasible but not made) and in selecting among more than two feasible social states. In its specifics, it is also more controversial where the range of the decision rule itself is at issue.
Uses for the compensation principle include:
* comparisons between the welfare properties of
perfect competition
In economics, specifically general equilibrium theory, a perfect market, also known as an atomistic market, is defined by several idealizing conditions, collectively called perfect competition, or atomistic competition. In Economic model, theoret ...
and
imperfect competition In economics, imperfect competition refers to a situation where the characteristics of an economic market do not fulfil all the necessary conditions of a perfectly competitive market. Imperfect competition will cause market inefficiency when it hap ...
* the Pareto principle in
social choice theory
Social choice theory or social choice is a theoretical framework for analysis of combining individual opinions, preferences, interests, or welfares to reach a ''collective decision'' or ''social welfare'' in some sense.Amartya Sen (2008). "Soci ...
*
cost–benefit analysis
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. It is used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits ...
.
See also
*
Compensating variation In economics, compensating variation (CV) is a measure of utility change introduced by John Hicks (1939). 'Compensating variation' refers to the amount of additional money an agent would need to reach their initial utility after a change in prices, ...
*
Cost–benefit analysis
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives. It is used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits ...
*
Kaldor–Hicks efficiency
A Kaldor–Hicks improvement, named for Nicholas Kaldor and John Hicks, is an economic re-allocation of resources among people that captures some of the intuitive appeal of a Pareto improvement, but has less stringent criteria and is hence appl ...
*
Pareto efficiency
Pareto efficiency or Pareto optimality is a situation where no action or allocation is available that makes one individual better off without making another worse off. The concept is named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), Italian civil engine ...
*
Social choice theory
Social choice theory or social choice is a theoretical framework for analysis of combining individual opinions, preferences, interests, or welfares to reach a ''collective decision'' or ''social welfare'' in some sense.Amartya Sen (2008). "Soci ...
*
Welfare economics
Welfare economics is a branch of economics that uses microeconomic techniques to evaluate well-being (welfare) at the aggregate (economy-wide) level.
Attempting to apply the principles of welfare economics gives rise to the field of public econ ...
*
Theory of Second Best
In welfare economics, the theory of the second best (also known as the general theory of second best or the second best theorem) concerns the situation when one or more optimality conditions cannot be satisfied. The economists Richard Lipsey and ...
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References
* John S. Chipman (
9872008). “compensation principle," ''
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' (2018), 3rd ed., is a twenty-volume reference work on economics published by Palgrave Macmillan. It contains around 3,000 entries, including many classic essays from the original Inglis Palgrave Diction ...
'', 2nd Edition.
Abstract.* Kenneth J. Arrow (1963). ''
Social Choice and Individual Values
Kenneth Arrow's monograph ''Social Choice and Individual Values'' (1951, 2nd ed., 1963, 3rd ed., 2012) and a theorem within it created modern social choice theory, a rigorous melding of social ethics and voting theory with an economic flavor. ...
'', ch. IV.
* Louis Kaplow (2008). "Pareto principle and competing principles," ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'', 2nd Edition
Abstract.* Dehez, P., & Tellone, D. (2013)
Data games: Sharing public goods with exclusion ''Journal of Public Economic Theory'', ''15''(4), 654-673.
Welfare economics