CHAPTER 1 - Introduction

Abstract

This chapter discusses the social welfare criteria for optimal population size and the static theory of optimal population size, optimal population growth with exogenous fertility, and the theory of endogenous fertility. Criteria for a social optimum usually concern choices in which the number and identity of the individuals are given; in this case, although many difficulties of comparability are involved, the criteria are otherwise unambiguous. The classical utilitarian criterion is to maximize the sum of individual utilities. Economists usually measure individual welfare in terms of the value of a utility function that combines an individual's consumption of different commodities into a single index. A standard desideratum of welfare economics for comparison of alternative policies affecting the allocation is the property of Pareto efficiency. A Pareto-efficient allocation is one in which no change, obtained presumably by policies affecting the opportunities and constraints faced by individuals, can make anyone better off without making someone else worse off. This criterion of social optimality is individualistic in the sense of being based on an individual's utility and is considered to be a minimal normative requirement.