Issues in economic theory and public policy: essays in honour of professor Tapas Majumdar
- Delhi Oxford University Press 1997
- 322 p.
Recent critiques of welfare economics have highlighted the limitations of 'welfarism', which focuses on individual utility alone with its narrow view of human well-being, thereby limiting the usefulness of welfare economics for public policy. The contributors to this volume, all eminent former students of Professor Tapas Majumdar, emphasize the need to go beyond 'welfarism'. A unique feature of this volume is its analysis of areas traditionally neglected in economic research, such as education and human capital. It is also wide in its scope topics as diverse as theoretical welfare economics, general equilibrium and money, public goods, tax evasion, the economics of education and brain drain, the economics of information, the difficulties of transition, and the problems of energy planning in India, are all covered. The contributors, all distinguished economists, highlight the importance of welfare considerations in the process of policy-making. Many of the topics discussed are likely to interest a wider audience. This volume will interest graduate students, researchers and teachers of economics, as well as technocrats and policy-makers.