The Bergson social welfare function was introduced to provide a scientifically normative study of welfare economics. It defines social welfare as a function of the welfare of each member of the community, depending on factors like their consumption and services. The function establishes a relation between social welfare (W) and the utility levels (U) of each individual (U1, U2, etc.), representing social welfare as an increasing function of individual utilities. It assumes social welfare depends on individual wealth/income and distribution of welfare, and allows for interpersonal comparisons of utility. However, the concept has been criticized for not applying to all governments, being difficult to construct, arbitrary, and not empirically significant or helpful for solving problems.