Commodities and Capabilities

By Amartya Sen

Commodities and Capabilities presents a set of inter-related theses concerning the foundations of welfare economics, and in particular about the assessment of personal well-being and advantage. The argument presented focuses on the capability to function, i.e. what a person can do or can be, questioning in the process the more standard emphasis on opulence or on utility. In fact, a person's motivation behind choice is treated here as a parametric variable which may or may not coincide with the pursuit of self-interest. Given the large number of practical problems arising from the roles and limitations of different concepts of interest and the judgement of advantage and well-being, this scholarly investigation is both of theoretical interest and practical import.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195650387
• ISBN13: 9780195650389
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.4"