Social planner

Under a social planner (English social planner ) is understood in the welfare economics a decision of trying to reach a defined as a desirable state. This can initially be economic model a fictitious person or a political decision makers in the real world. It is assumed that such the economic welfare -maximizing state is not reached by a certain purely on market equilibrium in the rule.

The modern welfare economics is based on the two Wohlfahrtstheoremen, in particular the Pareto optimization. Here is in an ideal economy, a result obtained competitive market equilibrium to be Pareto- efficient, ie a state of equilibrium or a distribution of scarce goods is to be achieved in which no party can be made better off without putting another worse.

What goal should be with what resources for which interest group considered concretely, depends strongly on the model considered background. Thus arises eg in the Romer model ( endogenous growth model) an optimal growth rate. To investigate whether the reached by the market equilibrium allocation of resources is optimal, that growth rate is calculated, for example, which would result if a benevolent social planner could divide the resources of the economy will, in this model: the final product between consumption and capital accumulation and the available work between the research and the final product sector. In the context of maximizing the intertemporal utility function ( the consumers).

If you come to the conclusion that a market - optimal state different from the state defined as a socially -optimal, this could speak for a political intervention by the state.