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Freedom, Opportunity and Wellbeing

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  • James E. Foster

    (Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University)

Abstract

This paper reexamines key results from the measurement of opportunity freedom, or the extent to which a set of options offers a decision maker real opportunities to achieve. Three cases are investigated: no preferences, a single preference, and plural preferences. The three co the cardinality relation, the indirect utility relation, and the effective freedom relation variations are considered within a common axiomatic framework. Special attention is given to representations of freedom rankings, with the goal of providing practical approaches for measuring opportunity freedom and the extent of capabilities.key results from the measurement of opportunity freedom, or the extent to which a set of options offers a decision maker real opportunities to achieve. Three cases are investigated: no preferences, a single preference, and plural preferences. The three corresponding evaluation methods the cardinality relation, the indirect utility relation, and the effective freedom relation variations are considered within a common axiomatic framework. Special attention is given to rankings, with the goal of providing practical approaches for measuring opportunity freedom and the extent of capabilities.key results from the measurement of opportunity freedom, or the extent to which a set of options offers a decision maker real opportunities to achieve. Three cases are investigated: no rresponding evaluation methods the cardinality relation, the indirect utility relation, and the effective freedom relation and their variations are considered within a common axiomatic framework. Special attention is given to rankings, with the goal of providing practical approaches for measuring

Suggested Citation

  • James E. Foster, 2010. "Freedom, Opportunity and Wellbeing," Working Papers 2010-15, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2010-15
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. DECANCQ, Koen & FLEURBAEY, Marc & SCHOKKAERT, Erik, 2014. "Inequality, income, and well-being," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2014018, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    2. Sebastian Bervoets, 2007. "Freedom of choice in a social context: comparing game forms," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 29(2), pages 295-315, September.
    3. Fabrice Le Lec & Benoît Tarroux, 2012. "On attitude towards choice - Some experimental evidence of choice aversion," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201230, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    4. Fabio Boncinelli & Leonardo Casini, 2014. "A Comparison of the Well-Being of Agricultural and Non Agricultural Households Using a Multicriterial Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 183-195, October.
    5. Manfred J. Holler & Isidoro Mazza, 2013. "Cultural heritage: public decision-making and implementation," Chapters, in: Ilde Rizzo & Anna Mignosa (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Cultural Heritage, chapter 2, pages i-i, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Kaushik Basu, 2016. "Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9299.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    freedom; individual choices; welfare; capabilities; axiomatic approaches; orderings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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