Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function
E573599
The Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function is a formal tool in welfare economics that aggregates individual utilities into a single measure of social welfare to evaluate and compare economic states or policies.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6164506 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function Context triple: [welfare economics, usesConcept, Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function]
-
A.
second fundamental theorem of welfare economics
The second fundamental theorem of welfare economics states that, under certain ideal conditions, any Pareto efficient allocation of resources can be achieved as a competitive market equilibrium given an appropriate redistribution of initial endowments.
-
B.
Hicks–Kaldor compensation criterion
The Hicks–Kaldor compensation criterion is an economic efficiency test stating that a policy change is desirable if those who gain could in principle compensate those who lose and still be better off, regardless of whether compensation actually occurs.
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C.
The Economics of Welfare
The Economics of Welfare is a foundational 1920 economics treatise by Arthur Cecil Pigou that systematically develops welfare economics and the concept of externalities to analyze the role of government in correcting market failures.
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D.
Collective Choice and Social Welfare
Collective Choice and Social Welfare is a foundational work in social choice theory that rigorously examines how individual preferences can be aggregated into collective decisions while addressing issues of welfare, justice, and fairness.
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E.
Pareto efficiency
Pareto efficiency is an economic concept describing an allocation of resources where no individual can be made better off without making someone else worse off.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function Target entity description: The Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function is a formal tool in welfare economics that aggregates individual utilities into a single measure of social welfare to evaluate and compare economic states or policies.
-
A.
second fundamental theorem of welfare economics
The second fundamental theorem of welfare economics states that, under certain ideal conditions, any Pareto efficient allocation of resources can be achieved as a competitive market equilibrium given an appropriate redistribution of initial endowments.
-
B.
Hicks–Kaldor compensation criterion
The Hicks–Kaldor compensation criterion is an economic efficiency test stating that a policy change is desirable if those who gain could in principle compensate those who lose and still be better off, regardless of whether compensation actually occurs.
-
C.
The Economics of Welfare
The Economics of Welfare is a foundational 1920 economics treatise by Arthur Cecil Pigou that systematically develops welfare economics and the concept of externalities to analyze the role of government in correcting market failures.
-
D.
Collective Choice and Social Welfare
Collective Choice and Social Welfare is a foundational work in social choice theory that rigorously examines how individual preferences can be aggregated into collective decisions while addressing issues of welfare, justice, and fairness.
-
E.
Pareto efficiency
Pareto efficiency is an economic concept describing an allocation of resources where no individual can be made better off without making someone else worse off.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
concept in welfare economics
ⓘ
normative economic concept ⓘ social welfare function ⓘ |
| allows |
ranking of social states
ⓘ
welfare comparisons under different allocations of resources ⓘ |
| assumes |
complete social preference ordering over feasible allocations
ⓘ
transitive social preferences ⓘ |
| basedOn | individualistic social welfare ethics ⓘ |
| canRepresent | different ethical systems depending on its functional form ⓘ |
| category |
economic theory concept
ⓘ
social choice theory concept ⓘ |
| characteristic |
allows interpersonal comparisons of utility via social value judgments
ⓘ
normative value judgments are embedded in its functional form ⓘ ordinally invariant with respect to individual utilities ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | purely Paretian welfare analysis without explicit social welfare function ⓘ |
| developedBy | Paul A. Samuelson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| field |
microeconomics
ⓘ
welfare economics ⓘ |
| formalizedIn |
Bergson’s 1938 paper "A Reformulation of Certain Aspects of Welfare Economics"
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Samuelson’s subsequent works on welfare economics ⓘ |
| generalizationOf | utilitarian welfare aggregation ⓘ |
| hasInput | individual utility levels ⓘ |
| hasOutput | scalar measure of social welfare ⓘ |
| influenced |
cost–benefit analysis
ⓘ
modern optimal taxation theory ⓘ public economics ⓘ theory of second-best ⓘ |
| introducedBy | Abram Bergson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| mathematicalForm | real-valued function of individual utilities W(u1, u2, …, un) ⓘ |
| mayBe |
increasing in each individual’s utility
ⓘ
symmetric with respect to individuals ⓘ |
| namedAfter |
Abram Bergson
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Paul A. Samuelson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| purpose |
aggregate individual utilities into a measure of social welfare
ⓘ
evaluate and compare economic policies ⓘ evaluate and compare economic states ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Arrow’s impossibility theorem
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Pareto criterion NERFINISHED ⓘ Rawlsian maximin social welfare function ⓘ utilitarian social welfare function ⓘ |
| requires | explicit specification of social value judgments ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 20th century ⓘ |
| usedFor |
analyzing optimal policy interventions
ⓘ
deriving conditions for Pareto efficiency ⓘ formalizing social choice in economic models ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
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Instruction
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Input
Subject: Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function Description of subject: The Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function is a formal tool in welfare economics that aggregates individual utilities into a single measure of social welfare to evaluate and compare economic states or policies.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.