africa

Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
Various definitions of inclusive growth all express the need for new approaches
to address social inequalities, especially in the developing world. These include
inequalities in income, assets both financial and human, education and health,
economic opportunities, and indeed all spheres of life.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) defines inclusive growth (IG) as “economic
growth that results in wider access to sustainable socioeconomic opportunities for
a broader number of people, regions, or countries, while protecting the vulnerable,
all being done in an environment of fairness, equal justice, and political plurality”
(AfDB, 2012: 2). The latter part of that definition seems to favor the development
of capabilities that go well beyond economic opportunities or income growth. One
dimension of wellbeing that receives considerable attention regarding inclusive
growth, is access to good quality employment for all. This echoes the writings of
the World Bank (Ianchovichina and Lundstrom, 2009), the Asian Development Bank
(Klasen, 2010), and UNDP (2010). Of course, employment and income/consumption
are very closely related, but other characteristics of a job—security, dignity,
voice—matter as well.
Some authors have argued that opportunities, not outcomes, matter in considerations
of inclusive growth. Some view capability as more important than functioning. However,
it is difficult to measure opportunities/capabilities, and much easier to measure
outcomes/functioning. For example, it is easy to observe a person’s income and
consumption but much more difficult to measure what they are capable of earning.
Some of the literature distinguishes inequality in opportunities and inequality in outcomes
in the income dimensions (see Roemer, 1998, and Ramos and van de Gaer,
2012 for good reviews; Ferreira and others, 2011 pursue this distinction empirically).
Ianchovichina and Lundstrom (2009) and Klasen (2010) argue that a measure of
inclusive growth should include both outcomes (especially income) and opportunities
(especially regarding employment, but also access to basic social services).
6.2.2 Inclusive growth components
Many authors have criticized the weights that are used to calculate the UNDP’s
Human Development Index. A particular concern has been the implied marginal
rate of substitution between the various components of the index (see, for example,
94