A Conceptual Exploration and Critical Inquiry into the Theoretical Foundation(s) of Economic Welfare Measures

Jonas Van der Slycken and Brent Bleys

Ecological Economics, 2020, vol. 176, issue C

Abstract: Economic welfare measures (EWM) such as the ISEW and the GPI are often argued to lack a sound theoretical foundation. However, we observe that the initial EWM were jointly inspired by Hicksian and Fisherian income. Welfare's experiential nature is Fisherian-inspired, whereas seeing the consumption of community capital (e.g. the ecosystem) as a cost is Hicksian-inspired. As most scholars do not recognize this double theoretical foundation, two distinct welfare interpretations with different time and boundary dimensions are often conflated. EWM can be seen as either capturing the benefits and costs experienced, or as reflecting the benefits and costs of present economic activities (BCPA). The former interpretation excludes future costs, costs shifted abroad and capital changes as they are not experienced in the present, while the latter includes them. Recent developments reveal that EWM are converging toward the ex post established experiential Fisherian foundation formulated by Lawn (2003). Yet, this is not the only way forward as the BCPA-view offers an alternative to account for, for instance, the costs of present activities shifted abroad or to the future, whether they are experienced or not. To avoid inconsistencies, EWM's standardization would greatly benefit from making explicit in future studies which interpretation is taken.

Keywords: Index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW); Genuine progress indicator (GPI); Theoretical framework; Fisherian income; Hicksian income; Experiential welfare; Cost-benefit analysis; Cost-shifting; Accountability; Standardization; Beyond GDP (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Working Paper: A conceptual exploration and critical inquiry into the theoretical foundation(s) of economic welfare measures (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:176:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919311164

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106753

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