ABSTRACT

First published in 1981, Professor Mishan’s Economic Efficiency and Social Welfare: Selected Essays on Fundamental Aspects of the Economic Theory of Social Welfare is a collection of 22 pioneering essays written while the author was teaching at the London School of Economics and chosen to indicate landmarks in the development of his own thought. Professor Mishan, who also enjoys an international reputation as a popular writer on the impact of modern economic growth on social welfare, is among the foremost authorities in the field of resource allocation, and his influence in his subject area has been profound. Mishan’s essays, while generally accessible to the layman due to the author’s lucidity, his economy in the use of mathematical notation and his concern with perspective, are invaluable reading for the economics undergraduate. The essays are particularly relevant to upper level students of project appraisal, welfare economics and cost benefit analysis requiring a coherent survey of their field of study.

part one|58 pages

Economic Criteria

part |43 pages

Comparative Statics

chapter 2|8 pages

Second Thoughts on Second Best

chapter 3|11 pages

The Recent Debate on Welfare Criteria

chapter 4|12 pages

Welfare Criteria: Resolution of a Paradox

part |14 pages

Dynamics

part two|28 pages

Economic Rent or Surplus

chapter 6|12 pages

The Plain Truth About Consumer Surplus

chapter 7|6 pages

Rent as a Measure of Welfare Change

chapter 8|8 pages

What Is Producer's Surplus?

part three|66 pages

Externalities

part four|124 pages

Project Evaluation

part |33 pages

Methodology

part |19 pages

Investment Criteria

part five|70 pages

Reflections on Economic Efficiency and Social Welfare