The Welfare Economics of Public Policy: A Practical Approach to Project and Policy Evaluation

This outstanding text, a follow-up to the authors' award-winning 1982 text, provides a thorough treatment of economic welfare theory and develops a complete theoretical and empirical framework for applied project and policy evaluation. The authors illustrate how this theory can be used to develop policy analysis from both theory and estimation in a variety of areas including: international trade, the economics of technological change, agricultural economics, the economics of information, environmental economics, and the economics of extractive and renewable natural resources.Building on willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures as the foundation for applied welfare economics, the authors develop measures for firms and households where households are viewed as both consumers and owner/sellers of resources. Possibilities are presented for (1) approximating WTP with consumer surplus, (2) measuring WTP exactly subject to errors in existing econometric work, and (3) using duality theory to specify econometric equations consistent with theory. Later chapters cover specific areas of welfare measurement under imperfect competition, uncertainty, incomplete information, externalities, and dynamic considerations. Applications are considered explicitly for policy issues related to information, international trade, the environment, agriculture, and other natural resource issues. The Welfare Economics of Public Policy is ideal for graduate and undergraduate courses in applied welfare economics, public policy, agricultural policy, and environmental economics and provides an essential reference for practitioners of applied welfare economics.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Pareto Optimality and the Pareto Criterion 3. The Compensation Principle and the Welfare Function 4. Welfare Measurement for the Producer Appendix to Chapter 4: Alternative Measures of Producer Welfare in Factor and Product Markets 5. Consumer Surplus and Consumer Welfare Appendix to Chapter 5: Nonuniqueness of Consumer Surplus 6. Willingness to Pay and Consumer Welfare Appendix to Chapter 6: Welfare Measurement for Consumers 7. Factor Supply and Factor Owner Welfare Appendix to Chapter 7: Welfare Measurement for Factor Owners 8. Aggregation and Economic Welfare Analysis of Market-Oriented Policies Appendix to Chapter 8: Measurement of Aggregate Market Welfare 9. Multimarket Analysis and General Equilibrium Considerations Appendix to Chapter 9: Welfare Measures for Multimarket Equilibrium 10. The Welfare Economics of Market Structure with Applications to International Trade 11. The Welfare Economics of Information with Applications to Advertising and Information Policy Appendix to Chapter 11: Measuring the Welfare Effects of Quality and Information 12. Stochastic Welfare Economics with Applications to Agricultural Policy Analysis Appendix to Chapter 12: Producer Welfare Measurement under Risk 13. Nonmarket Welfare Measurement with Applications to Environmental Economic Policy 14. Intertemporal Considerations in Cost–Benefit Analysis with Applications to Natural Resource Economics Appendix to Chapter 14: Intertemporal Welfare Analysis with Investment in Producer Capital and Consumer Durables 15. Conclusions and Further Considerations Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Richard E. Just, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, US, Darrell L. Hueth, Emeritus Professor, University of Maryland, US and Andrew Schmitz, Professor and Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Endowed Chair, University of Florida, Research Professor, University of California, US and Adjunct Professor, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Review :
‘The Welfare Economics of Public Policy is a great book that should be of interest to all economists interested in applied welfare analysis. It is a good reference book for economists studying the effects of public policy. Finally, it should be a useful textbook for students studying economic policy and applied welfare economics.' '. . . a very comprehensive overview of the state of the art in welfare economics. It can be used as a teaching book for advanced students as well as a reference volume for researchers. This duality of possible uses is supported by the fact that very complex issues are presented in an easily readable manner. More technical aspects are then outlined in the appendices of the relevant chapters, offering colleagues the option to study formal considerations in more detail. . . a welcome addition to and expression of the knowledge base of agricultural economics.' 'I am absolutely delighted that the authors have revised and republished this text. I have used the previous version for years in my graduate environmental economics course; usually I had to share the one copy I have with students and I felt it was a shame that these students did not have the opportunity to purchase the book since every serious environmental economist should have this volume on their shelf. It has been a continuous reference volume for me over the years and I am sure this is true of many others in the discipline. In the field of applied welfare analysis (spanning environmental economics, international trade, agricultural policy, etc.) there is no need for further elaboration when "Just, Hueth and Schmitz" is referenced. Everyone knows the book that is being referred to: the "bible" of applied welfare economics.' 'For the record, I am one of the people who requested that the authors revise and re-issue their textbook. It is an extremely valuable book for applied economists; as with the previous edition, I will use it extensively in two of my courses and consult it frequently in my own research endeavors.'