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The Meaning of Social Efficiency

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  • Louis Lefeber
  • Thomas Vietorisz

Abstract

Policy implementation calls for efficiency. But because policy concerns range over broad social and political-economic areas, the efficient pursuit of one particular goal may conflict with the realization of some other, equally important social interest. Hence, efficiency for its own sake cannot be a policy goal. Giving special attention to the development process, the paper discusses the problems and contradictions that arise when policymakers working in a framework of neoclassical economic theory attempt to deal with issues of equity, stabilization, markets and trade. Starting with the limitations of market efficiency when conventional requirements of social welfare as well as social and environmental sustainability are taken into account, it is argued that a more meaningful concept of social efficiency can be obtained with the help of the human development indicators elaborated by the United Nations Development Program, augmented by the sustainability indicators developed by the European Union and others during the last decade.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis Lefeber & Thomas Vietorisz, 2007. "The Meaning of Social Efficiency," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 139-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:19:y:2007:i:2:p:139-164
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250701256672
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Doyne Farmer & Martin Shubik & Eric Smith, 2005. "Economics: the next physical science?," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1520, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tadeusz A. Grzeszczyk & Jacek Pełszynski, 2020. "Towards a conceptualization of a social efficiency notion in management sciences," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 19(1), pages 33-46, March.
    2. I. Haller & H. Grupp, 2009. "Demand by product characteristics: measuring solar cell quality over time," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 487-506, August.
    3. Aman Luthra, 2020. "Efficiency in waste collection markets: Changing relationships between firms, informal workers, and the state in urban India," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1375-1394, October.
    4. Manuel Meireles & Cida Sanches & Samuel Ferreira & José Osvaldo De Sordi & Givaldo Santos, 2016. "Social Efficiency of For-profit Organizations in Brazil: An Empirical Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 909-928, September.
    5. McDonald, David A., 2016. "To corporatize or not to corporatize (and if so, how?)," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 107-114.
    6. David A McDonald, 2016. "The weight of water: Benchmarking for public water services," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2181-2200, November.
    7. Zhao, Linlin & Zha, Yong & Zhuang, Yuliang & Liang, Liang, 2019. "Data envelopment analysis for sustainability evaluation in China: Tackling the economic, environmental, and social dimensions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 1083-1095.

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