Amartya Sens Capability Approach and Its Application in...

Introduction Hitherto, development has been measured solely by economic indexes, such as accumulation of capital, utilization of international investment, GDP per capita, and many more. Such figures allow easy evaluation and comparison across borders, but fail to account for other less easily quantifiable factors that might also influence development. Recent studies on development look beyond purely financial measures like free choice, medical care availability, education, equality or political freedom. Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate in Economics, made a significant contribution with the concept of â€Å"capability† development, according to which government’s performance should be evaluated against the capabilities of their citizens (Sen,†¦show more content†¦The most common instrument used for both basic and complex functionings, although yielding different degrees of validity and reliability, is the survey (see Appendix 2). Applications The capability approach can be applied in a wide range of fields, most prominently in welfare economics, inequality and poverty studies, social policy and development economics. Welfare economics deals with the evaluation of individual and social welfare as well as with the â€Å"impact of economic and social policies† (Kuklys Robeyns, 2004). Utility (desire fulfillment) is the core tool, measured in monetary variables. Sen argues that the capability approach encompasses both welfare from a selected option (functionings) and welfare from the opportunity to choose. Much of Amartya Sen’s work deals with social or economic inequality - discrimination of important functionings. A tool that is used then is economic capability, which means using optimally one’s resources regardless of the social status. Social policy is also greatly influenced by the capability approach and the emphasis on human rights. Moreover, Sen’s framework openly tackles the problem of exclusive emphasis on class inequality and it sheds light on race, age, gender, sexuality and disabilities (Carpenter, 2009). Application in the HDRs The Human Development Approach is regarded as an alternative to