Multidimensional First-order Dominance Comparisons of Population Wellbeing

This chapter conveys the concept of first-order dominance (FOD) with particular focus on applications to multidimensional population welfare comparisons. It gives an account of the fundamental equivalent definitions of FOD both in the one-dimensional and multidimensional setting, illustrated with simple numerical examples. An implementable method for detecting dominances that relies on linear programming is explained along with a bootstrapping procedure that yields additional information relative to what can be obtained from dominance comparisons alone. The chapter discusses strengths and weaknesses of FOD compared to other multidimensional population comparison concepts, and describes practical tools that enable the reader to easily use it.