Impossibility Theorems For Social Welfare Functionals

11 Pages Posted: 23 May 2017 Last revised: 11 Dec 2018

Date Written: December 10, 2018

Abstract

In this paper we provide Impossibility Theorems for social welfare functionals. We adapt the method of proving the inevitability of dictatorial Bergson-Samuelson social welfare functions for fixed utility profiles developed in a paper by Robert P. Parks in 1976. With a little more from results already available in the literature we are able to prove impossibility under conditions on the admissible set which are milder than the ones existing in the literature.

Keywords: social welfare functional, strong neutrality, weakly dictatorial, lexicographically dictatorial, binary independence of irrelevant alternatives, Pareto criterion, attainability, rich admissible sets.

JEL Classification: D71

Suggested Citation

Lahiri, Somdeb, Impossibility Theorems For Social Welfare Functionals (December 10, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2972486 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2972486

Somdeb Lahiri (Contact Author)

Lok Jagruti (LJ) University ( email )

S.G. Road & Kataria Motors
Sarkhej Circle
Ahmedabad, IN Gujarat 382210
India

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/view/somdeblahiri/home

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
60
Abstract Views
483
Rank
643,430
PlumX Metrics