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 (3)
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]
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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.
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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
ⓘ
linked to:
Paul Samuelson
|
| field |
microeconomics
ⓘ
welfare economics ⓘ |
| formalizedIn |
Bergson’s 1938 paper "A Reformulation of Certain Aspects of Welfare Economics"
ⓘ
linked to:
Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function
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 ⓘ |
| 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
ⓘ
Paul A. Samuelson ⓘ
linked to:
Paul Samuelson
|
| 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
ⓘ
Pareto criterion ⓘ
linked to:
Pareto efficiency
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 (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function
→
formalizedIn
→
Bergson’s 1938 paper "A Reformulation of Certain Aspects of Welfare Economics"
ⓘ
linked to: Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function
linked to: Bergson–Samuelson social welfare function