Applications of Population Principles: A Note

Because most principles for evaluating policies which result in population change require information about individual well-being as well as interpersonal comparisons, some way of assessing levels of well-being is essential to their use. In this paper, we look at one way of doing it using equivalent expenditures and equivalence scales. In certain circumstances, equivalent expenditures, which can be used to make interpersonal comparisons, can be estimated. This note examines this method in light of the demands of the critical-level generalized utilitarian family of principles. Properties of those principles are examined, and the problems of setting the critical level and of implementing priority for the less well off is included. In addition, the possibility of decisions based on theory and a few facts is investigated. The paper concludes with a discussion of population policy and the current world environmental crisis.