In economic theory more generally, welfare is seemingly just another word
for utility. As Van Praag writes in a critique of the utility concept, some concepts
are not clear or at least well understood: “a prime example is the welfare
or utility concept” (Van Praag 1993). Alternatively, put even simpler: “welfare is
the evaluation assigned by the individual to income or, more generally, to the
contribution to our well-being from those goods and services that we can buy
with money” (Van Praag & Frijerts 1999, 31). This is also the view of Tinbergen
who wrote: “welfare (considered identical, in this article, to utility or satisfaction)
is measurable” (Tinbergen 1991, 7).