IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/mathme/v60y2004i1p101-123.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Generalized benefit functions and measurement of utility

Author

Listed:
  • Walter Briec
  • Philippe Gardères

Abstract

Luenberger [8] introduced the so-called benefit function that converts preferences into a numerical function that has some cardinal meaning. This measure has a number of remarkable properties and is a powerful tool in analyzing welfare issues ([10], [12], [13], [14]). This paper studies the conditions for a general function to make it a relevant welfare measure. Therefore, we introduce a large class of measures, called generalized benefit functions. The generalized benefit function is derived from the minimization of a convex function over the complement of a convex set. We show this class encompases as a special case the benefit function and is suitable to provide an alternative characterization of preferences. We also make a connection to the expenditure function through Fenchel duality theory and derive a duality result from Lemaire [7] for reverse convex optimization. Finally, we study the relationship between our class of functions and Hicksian compensated demand and we establish a link to the Slutsky matrix. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2004

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Briec & Philippe Gardères, 2004. "Generalized benefit functions and measurement of utility," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 60(1), pages 101-123, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:mathme:v:60:y:2004:i:1:p:101-123
    DOI: 10.1007/s001860200231
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s001860200231
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s001860200231?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. R. Russell & William Schworm, 2011. "Properties of inefficiency indexes on 〈input, output〉 space," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 143-156, October.
    2. Aparicio, Juan & Pastor, Jesus T. & Zofio, Jose L., 2015. "How to properly decompose economic efficiency using technical and allocative criteria with non-homothetic DEA technologies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 882-891.
    3. Jean-Paul Chavas & Michele Baggio, 2010. "On duality and the benefit function," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 173-184, March.
    4. Juan Aparicio & Fernando Borras & Jesus T. Pastor & Jose L. Zofio, 2016. "Loss Distance Functions and Profit Function: General Duality Results," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Juan Aparicio & C. A. Knox Lovell & Jesus T. Pastor (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity, chapter 0, pages 71-96, Springer.
    5. Chavas, Jean-Paul, 2013. "On Demand Analysis and Dynamics: A Benefit Function Approach," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149683, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Jean-Paul Chavas & Zohra Mechemache, 2006. "Efficiency measurements and the gains from trade under transaction costs," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 67-85, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:mathme:v:60:y:2004:i:1:p:101-123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.