Inequality and the capability approach

Tania Burchardt and Rod Hick

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Inequality has acquired a newfound prominence in academic and political debate. While scholars working with the capability approach have succeeded in influencing the nature of debate about the conceptualisation and measurement of poverty, which is increasingly understood in multidimensional terms, the recent literature on inequality focusses overwhelmingly on economic forms of inequality, and especially on inequalities in income and wealth. In this paper we outline how and why the capability approach might be employed to provide a richer understanding of inequality, and of ‘advantage’ in particular. We also discuss three issues that arise when seeking to apply the capability approach to examine inequality rather than the more traditional concern with poverty. Addressing these issues is central to unlocking the potential that the capability approach has to enrich the understanding of inequality.

Keywords: capability approach; Inequality; distribution; advantage; measurement; poverty; income; wealth; multidimensional (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 I31 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2017-01-13
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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