The Capability Approach as an Alternative to Conventional Social Indicators (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Capability Approach and Well-Being Measurement for Public Policy
This chapter presents Sen's capability approach as a framework for well-being measurement with powerful and ongoing relevance to current work on measuring well-being in order to guide public policy. It discusses how preferences and values inform the relative weights across capabilities, then draws readers' attention to measurement properties of multidimensional measures that have proven to be policy-relevant in poverty reduction. It presents a dual-cutoff counting methodology that satisfies these principles and outlines the assumptions that must be fulfilled in order to interpret ensuing indices as measuring capability poverty. It then discusses Bhutan's innovative extension of this methodology in the Gross National Happiness Index and reflects upon whether it might be suited to other contexts. It closes with some remarks on relevant material in other Handbook chapters.
Human Development forthcoming The Development of Capability Indicators
2016
The paper is motivated by sustained interest in the capabilities approach to welfare economics combined with the paucity of economic statistics that measure capabilities at the individual level. Specifically, it takes a much discussed account of the normatively desirable capabilities constitutive of a good life, argued to be comprehensive at a high level of abstraction, and uses it to operationalize the capabilities approach by developing a survey instrument which is then used to elicit information about capabilities at the individual level. The paper explores the extent to which these capabilities are covariates of life satisfaction measure (utility) and investigates aspects of robustness and sub-group differences using standard socio-demographic variables as well as a relatively novel control for personality. In substantial terms, we find that there is some evidence of quantitative, but no qualitative, gender and age differences in the capabilities-life satisfaction relationship. ...
Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined
The Journal of Development Studies, 2018
The means-ends distinction 2.6.5 A5: Functionings and capabilities as the evaluative space 2.6.6 A6: Other dimensions of ultimate value 2.6.7 A7: Value pluralism 2.6.8 A8: The principle of each person as an end 2.7 The B-modules: non-optional modules with optional content 2.7.1 B1: The purpose of the capability theory 2.7.2 B2: The selection of dimensions 2.7.3 B3: Human diversity 2.7.4 B4: Agency 2.7.5 B5: Structural constraints 2.7.6 B6: The choice between functionings, capabilities, or both 2.7.7 B7: Meta-theoretical commitments 2.8 The C-modules: contingent modules 2.8.1 C1: Additional ontological and explanatory theories 2.8.2 C2: Weighing dimensions 2.8.3 C3: Methods for empirical analysis 2.8.4 C4: Additional normative principles and concerns 2.9 The modular view of the capability account: a summary 2.10 Hybrid theories 2.11 The relevance and implications of the modular view 2.12 A visualisation of the core conceptual elements 2.13 The narrow and broad uses of the capability approach 2.14 Conclusion the capability approach with people working in different disciplines and in different corners of the world. I cannot possibly list everyone who contributed to my understanding and thinking, yet I would like to express my gratitude to
The paper is motivated by sustained interest in the capabilities approach to welfare economics combined with the purported paucity of economic statistics that measure capabilities at the individual level. Specifically, it takes a focal account of normatively desirable capabilities constitutive of a good life and operationalizes that account by means of a new survey instrument used to elicit information about capabilities at the individual level. The paper explores the extent to which these capabilities are covariates of a life satisfaction measure of utility ('happiness') and finds that many are. Aspects of robustness are explored using standard socio-demographic variables as well as a relatively novel control for personality; in addition, a range of different models are explored and sub-population differences are examined.
Special Issue “Capability Approach and Multidimensional Well-being in High-income Countries”
Forum for Social Economics, 2015
This article is the Introduction to the Special Issue on "Capability Approach and Multidimensional Well-being in High-income Countries". The volume offers an in-depth investigation of the major methodological challenges faced in the attempt to measuring and analyzing well-being in high-income countries and portrays people's well-being conditions in different European countries. It contains seven papers, which are an interesting combination of theoretical, methodological, and empirical works. The common denominator is the endorsement of Amartya Sen's capability approach as conceptual framework guiding the analysis.
Journal of Human Development The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey
This paper aims to present a theoretical survey of the capability approach in an interdisciplinary and accessible way. It focuses on the main conceptual and theoretical aspects of the capability approach, as developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, and others. The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society. Its main characteristics are its highly interdisciplinary character, and the focus on the plural or multidimensional aspects of well-being. The approach highlights the difference between means and ends, and between substantive freedoms (capabilities) and outcomes (achieved functionings).
2015
This paper is concerned with the construction of an appropriate conceptual framework for measuring human development with a focus on high-income countries. Too often, the measurement exercise is based on a purely empirical basis where indicators simply reflect data availability and “conventional wisdom”. This is likely to misguide policy-makers. We deal with two core points for the construction of a conceptual framework: (a) specification of the theoretical approach and (b) identification of the relevant categories of indicators. The paper endorses the capability approach which is the theoretical underpinning of human development. In line with this perspective, it offers a view of the relationships between key concepts such as human development, well-being, capabilities, and functionings. Based on this framework, it then tries to identify which typology of indicators is more suitable for measuring people's functionings. Building on a multidisciplinary literature, we classify indicators as input, output, outcome, and impact indicators, and conclude that outcome indicators are the best solution for measuring functionings. Finally, the paper provides examples of theoretically robust indicators and argues for a focus on more advanced functionings in high-income countries.
Wellbeing in Public Policy: Contributions Based on Sen’s Capability Approach
LSE public policy review, 2021
The paper provides a brief introduction to the capability approach and its use in public policy-making around the world. Specifically, it shows the approach provides a definition of wellbeing and a framework for understanding how it is produced and distributed. It notes that the framework is useful across the entire life course and so helpful for understanding wellbeing in children and retirees as well as working age adults. The paper then discusses the practical impacts of the approach on the development of monitoring systems in the OECD and UN where the Human Development Index paved the way for the globally adopted Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights the fact that behavioural and psychological factors are an important contributor to understanding how resources are converted into wellbeing.
The division of theoretical work into two broad areas of social and economic theory kept the social and economic domains separated from each other for a long time. Sen's major contribution in the field of economics is to resist the desocialization of economics. In capability approach (CA), Sen shifted the focus in the field of economics and development studies from an exaggerated emphasis on growth toward issues of personal well-being, agency, and freedom. However, despite having many promising features, Sen's CA also has its own weaknesses when considered on its own. The aim of this paper was to identify the potential as well as the limits of CA for the conceptualization and assessment of human well-being. The paper concludes that in order to use CA to construct an empirically grounded assessment of wellbeing, one needs to adopt carefully designed procedural methods for the selection of relevant capabilities.