Amartya Sen

The main focus of this book is on the causation of starvation in general and of famines in particular. The author develops the alternative method of analysis--the 'entitlement approach'--concentrating on ownership and exchange, not on food supply. The book also provides a general analysis of the characterization and measurement of poverty. Various approaches used in economics, sociology, and political theory are critically examined. The predominance of distributional issues, including distribution between different occupation groups, links up the problem of conceptualizing poverty with that of analyzing starvation.

Professor Sen revisits the issues tackled in his previous seminal work, On Economic Inequality, first published in 1973, and provides new analyses and insights in this crucial area. This original and incisive book brings together and develops some of the most important themes of Sen's work over the last decade. He notes that the difference between virtually all contemporary ethical approaches to social arrangements lies not in whether they demand equality or notDSthey all demand equality of somethingDSbut in what sort of equality they propound. Any claim to equality must take account of the diversity of human beings and their characteristics. Sen argues in a rich and subtle approach that we should be concerned with people's capabilities rather than either their resources or their welfare. Sen also looks at some types of inequalities that have not yet been studied as systematically as inequalities of class and wealth have been. These include, inter alia, the important issue of gender inequality.

India's success in reducing endemic deprivation since Independence has been quite limited. Recent diagnoses of this failure of policy have concentrated on the counterproductive role of government regulation, and on the need for economic incentives to accelerate the growth of the economy. This book argues that an assessment of India's failure to eliminate basic deprivations has to go beyond this limited focus, and to take note of the role played in that failure by inadequate public involvement in the provision of basic education, health care, social security, and related fields, Even the fostering of fast and participatory economic growth requires some basic social change, which is not addressed by liberalization and economic incentives. The authors also discuss the historical antecedents of these political and social neglects, including the distortion of policy priorities arising from inequalities of political power. Following on from this, the book considers the scope for public action to address these earlier biases and achieve a transformation of policy priorities. Beginning with an introductory chapter presenting the motivation, focus, and approach of the book, it discusses the respective roles of the market mechanism and government action in economic development and discusses the particular role of public involvement in the fields of health and education. International comparisons of development experiences are brought to bear on the diagnosis of India's successes and failures, and the work discusses the lessons to be learnt from the contrasting development experiences of different states within India, with particular attention to Kerala's outstanding success in social fields. The authors consider the role of public action and political organization in promoting social opportunities. Attention is drawn, in particular, to the part played by widespread illiteracy in suppressing that process and perpetuating social inequalities. The work also looks at the issue of basic education, including a critical assessment of public policy in this field. The issue of gender inequality is discussed, and the role of women's agency in the expansion of social opportunities for both women and men is explored. The work concludes by consolidating the argument and discussing the policy implication of the analyses presented. A statistical appendix presents a comparative picture of India and other developing countries, and also the comparative performance of different states within India. This new work by two internationally renowned economists is an important and relevant argument for promoting human welfare.

India is a country of great diversity. The commonly used indicators of `quality of life' (such as life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy) vary tremendously between the different states, rivalling international contrasts between very low performing countries and very high achieving ones. This volume of essays reflects an attempt to draw lessons from the disparate experiences within India, rather than from contrasts with the experiences of other countries. It supplements Drèze and Sen's India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity, which studies what we can learn from international comparisons of policies, actions, and achievements. The essays challenge exclusively economic judgements of the development process. The first task is to identify the ends of economic and social development in order to have a basis in which to found the means and strategies. The second task is to understand a wider range of means than those related simply to the use or non-use of markets.The first two overview essays study the issues at the national level, focusing on policy debates and district-by-district demographic indicators, respectively. They are followed by detailed case studies of three very different states: Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and West Bengal.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has been a distinguished and influential scholar in development economics for over twenty years, and this edited volume seeks to reflect his interests and the inspiration he has provided for others. The editors have succeeded in creating a coherent and stimulating set of papers from well-known contributors. The volume deals with the enduring themes of Amartya Sen's work, ranging through theoretical issues of development economics to the philosophical foundation of welfare systems, and ethics in society. This work will be of special interest to academics specializing in development and welfare economics, and those with an interest in ethics and the philosophy of economics. Contributors: Anthony B. Atkinson, Pranab Bardhan, Jeffrey L. Coles, Rajat Deb, Jean Dreze, Louis Gevers, Peter J. Hammond, Ravi Kanbur, Eric S. Maskin, Robert Nozick, Siddiq Osmani, Martin Ravallion, Kevin Roberts, Mrinalini Saran, Robert Solow, and Serve Wilbaut.

Edited by the United Nations Development Programme, this collection of papers offers a new rationale and framework for international development cooperation. Its main argument is that in actual practice development cooperation has already moved beyond aid. In the name of aid (i.e. assistance to poor countries), we are today dealing with issues such as the ozone hole, global climate change, HIV, drug trafficking and financial volatility. All of these issues are not really poverty-related. Rather, they concern global housekeeping: ensuring an adequate provision of global public goods.