ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, I have laid down conceptual and terminological foundations and have described a framework in which to assess different theories of welfare. Using this framework, it was possible to analyze traditional welfare economics and its notions of utility and welfare. It has become clear that there are some deficiencies associated with the ‘hollowness’ of the utility concept. It is thus not surprising to note that there have been several attempts at relaxing some of these problematic assumptions. My aim in this chapter is to exemplarily examine some prominent examples from the literature. While this will not be an overview of all competing approaches to welfare analysis, it nevertheless allows us to see to what extent changes in the fundamental assumptions lead to widely diverging concepts of welfare.
