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This paper examines the changes in the level of social welfare in New Zealand over the period 1984 to 1998 in the context of the country's economic reform process since the early 1980s. The earlier part of this period was also characterized by a largely policy-induced economic recession in New Zealand. In this paper, we make an attempt to identify the sections of the population that became better off in terms of real income, and those that became worse off during the period chosen. In addition, we examine the changes to the overall level of social welfare. The methods used are both ordinal and cardinal. The ordinal method is based on the criterion of generalized Lorenz dominance, and the cardinal method is based on a social evaluation function that provides complete ordering of all possible social states. The social welfare changes, derived with the help of the cardinal method, and measured in terms of real income, are then attributed to the twin influences of mean income changes and changes in measured inequality. In addition to showing up the dramatic increase in the Gini coefficient of income inequality overall, the results also track the changes in real income of the different income groups over time, and quantify how these changes, coupled with the increased inequality, affected the well-being of New Zealanders over a period of extensive economic reform. The study is based on unit record data from four Household Surveys conducted by Statistics New Zealand in the years 1983/84, 1991/1992, 1995/1996 and 1997/1998.

In this article, first, we show how equity considerations, in the guise of inequality of income, enters into a social welfare function. In this connection the important properties of a social welfare function are also discussed. Second, contrary to the popular belief, we contend that the degree of inequality is not an appropriate indicator of the degree of social discontent. Third, the appropriate indicator of social discontent is shown to be the level of social envy which is a non‐monotonic function of inequality. It is also demonstrated that the sociological term “relative deprivation” is equivalent to the economic definition of envy.

This paper examines, based on certain criteria, the most feasible sustainable energy technology (SET) for rural Bangladesh. The criteria used for the appropriateness of SET for rural Bangladesh are: (a) availability of energy resources, (b) degree of technological complexity of the proposed technology, (c) cost effectiveness, (d) balance between supply of and demand for energy, (e) contribution of the particular energy technology to reducing greenhouse gas emission, and (f) major constraints associated with accepting the recommended technology. The paper describes the theoretical part of the author's Ph.D. thesis where fundamental work has been done. The study applies the criteria to three main energy technologies‐ biomass, solar and wind‐ and finds that none of these technologies are suitable on their own. However, among the three proposed energy technologies, biomass might be the best possible option which can make a positive contribution to alleviate energy poverty in rural Bangladesh. Findings of this study are useful for development policy makers and researchers.