IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qeh/ophiwp/ophiwp008.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

External Capabilities

Author

Listed:
  • James Foster, Christopher Handy

Abstract

The capability approach of Amartya Sen evaluates well-being in terms of an individual's achievements and abilities to function. The traditional view of capabilities is that they are discernable as part of an individual's own set of characteristics, or as part of a package of socially provided services. We argue that individuals also have access to a broad array of capabilities through their family, friends and other persons with whom they have relationships. We introduce the concept of 'external capabilities', which are defined as those abilities to function that are conferred by direct connection or relationship with another person. Several examples are provided, and we distinguish between our new concept and other existing notions of capabilities originating in groups. The perspective of external capabilities can be especially valuable in formulating development policies or understanding how existing policies work. As an illustration of this, we show how information and communications technologies (ICT) can enhance development by augmenting external capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • James Foster, Christopher Handy, 2008. "External Capabilities," OPHI Working Papers 8, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:qeh:ophiwp:ophiwp008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ophi.org.uk/working-paper-number-08/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Comim,Flavio & Qizilbash,Mozaffar & Alkire,Sabina (ed.), 2008. "The Capability Approach," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521862875.
    2. Amartya Sen, 2004. "Capabilities, Lists, And Public Reason: Continuing The Conversation," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 77-80.
    3. Alkire, Sabina, 2005. "Valuing Freedoms: Sen's Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283316.
    4. Sen, Amartya, 1988. "The concept of development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 9-26, Elsevier.
    5. Carmen Herrero, 1996. "Capabilities and utilities," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 2(1), pages 69-88, December.
    6. Basu, Kaushik & Foster, James E, 1998. "On Measuring Literacy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(451), pages 1733-1749, November.
    7. Ingrid Robeyns, 2005. "The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-117.
    8. anonymous, 1999. "Western economic developments," Western economic developments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jan.
    9. Frances Stewart, 2005. "Groups and Capabilities," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 185-204.
    10. anonymous, 1999. "Western economic developments," Western economic developments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Dec.
    11. Sen, Amartya, 1997. "On Economic Inequality," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292975.
    12. Levy, Santiago, 1991. "Poverty alleviation in Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 679, The World Bank.
    13. anonymous, 1999. "Western economic developments," Western economic developments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Aug.
    14. ., 1999. "Mexico's Economic Development," Chapters, in: North American Economic Integration, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi, 1997. "Poverty and its many dimensions: The role of income as an indicator," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 345-360.
    16. Ellman, Michael, 1994. "The Increase in Death and Disease under "Katastroika."," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 18(4), pages 329-355, August.
    17. ., 1999. "The Development of Biotechnology," Chapters, in: The Emergence and Growth of Biotechnology, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Poor, Relatively Speaking," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 153-169, July.
    19. Sudhir Anand & Martin Ravallion, 1993. "Human Development in Poor Countries: On the Role of Private Incomes and Public Services," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 133-150, Winter.
    20. Dreze, Jean & Sen, Amartya, 2002. "India: Development and Participation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199257492.
    21. Martha Nussbaum, 2003. "Capabilities As Fundamental Entitlements: Sen And Social Justice," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2-3), pages 33-59.
    22. Solava Ibrahim, 2006. "From Individual to Collective Capabilities: The Capability Approach as a Conceptual Framework for Self-help," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 397-416.
    23. Dreze, Jean & Sen, Amartya, 1999. "India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198295280.
    24. Surya Sen, 1999. "Global financial crisis and economic development," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Aug.
    25. Burton A. Weisbrod, 1964. "Collective-Consumption Services of Individual-Consumption Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 78(3), pages 471-477.
    26. anonymous, 1999. "Western economic developments," Western economic developments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mozaffar Qizilbash, 2014. "Are modern philosophical accounts of well-being excessively ‘individualistic’?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 61(2), pages 173-189, June.
    2. Hoffmann, Nimi & Metz, Thaddeus, 2017. "What Can the Capabilities Approach Learn from an Ubuntu Ethic? A Relational Approach to Development Theory," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 153-164.
    3. Björn-Sören Gigler & Savita Bailur, 2014. "Closing the Feedback Loop : Can Technology Bridge the Accountability Gap?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18408, December.
    4. Sepideh Yousefzadeh & Mario Biggeri & Caterina Arciprete & Hinke Haisma, 2019. "A Capability Approach to Child Growth," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(2), pages 711-731, April.
    5. Sameena Hameed, 2020. "Political Economy of Rentierism in the Middle East and Disruptions from the Digital Space," Contemporary Review of the Middle East, , vol. 7(1), pages 54-89, March.
    6. Dalila De Rosa, 2018. "Capability Approach and Multidimensional Well-Being: The Italian Case of BES," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 125-155, November.
    7. P. G. Ardeni & C. Tinonin, 2013. "Capability-Deprivation as Determinant of Underweight in Children: Perspectives from an Indian Case-Study," Working Papers wp904, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    8. Tony Castleman, 2011. "Human Recognition and its Role in Economic Development: A Descriptive Review," Working Papers 2011-08, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    9. Béassoum, Christian N., 2011. "Pauvreté régionale au Tchad en 2003: une situation de référence revisitée [Chad regional poverty profile in 2003: revisiting a baseline]," MPRA Paper 34505, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Mario Biggeri & Jean-Francois Trani & Parul Bakhshi, 2009. "Le teorie della Disabilità: una Reinterpretazione Attraverso l'Approccio delle Capability Amartya Sen," Working Papers - Economics wp2009_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    11. Jay Mitra & Mariusz Sokolowicz & Ursula Weisenfeld & Agnieszka Kurczewska & Silke Tegtmeier, 2020. "Citizen Entrepreneurship: A Conceptual Picture of the Inclusion, Integration and Engagement of Citizens in the Entrepreneurial Process," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 6(2), pages 242-260, July.
    12. Cecile Renouard, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Utilitarianism, and the Capabilities Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 85-97, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sabina Alkire, 2007. "The Missing Dimensions of Poverty Data: An Introduction," OPHI Working Papers 0, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    2. Gasper, D.R., 2006. "What is the capability approach?: its core, rationale, partners and dangers," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19187, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    3. Antonio Andreoni & Ha-Joon Chang & Isabel Estevez, 2021. "The Missing Dimensions of the Human Capabilities Approach: Collective and Productive," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 179-205, April.
    4. Sylvain K Cibangu, 2018. "Misunderstandings of Capability Approach: Towards Paradigm Pluralism," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 9(2), pages 54-72.
    5. Sabina Alkire, 2013. "Choosing Dimensions: The Capability Approach and Multidimensional Poverty," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Nanak Kakwani & Jacques Silber (ed.), The Many Dimensions of Poverty, chapter 6, pages 89-119, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Konte, Maty, 2014. "Why Are Women Less Democratic Than Men? Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 104-119.
    7. Gasper, D.R., 2007. "Problem- and policy-analysis for human development," ISS Working Papers - General Series 18743, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    8. Sabina Alkire & Maria Emma Santos, 2010. "Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A New Index for Developing Countries," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2010-11, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    9. Diongue Abdou Ka & Gaël Giraud & Cécile Renouard, 2011. "Measuring the contribution of extractive industries to local development : the case of oil companies in Nigeria," Post-Print hal-00626247, HAL.
    10. Elisabeth Tovar, 2008. "Quel périmètre pour la différenciation sociale de l’espace urbain ? Une proposition capabiliste," Documents de recherche 08-17, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    11. Sung-Geun Kim, 2015. "Fuzzy Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: An Analysis of Statistical Behaviors," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 635-667, February.
    12. David A. Clark & University of Manchester, 2005. "The Capability Approach: Its Development, Critiques and Recent Advances," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-032, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Antoinette Baujard & Muriel Gilardone, 2017. "Sen is not a capability theorist," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Leßmann, Ortrud, 2011. "Empirische Studien zum Capability Ansatz auf der Grundlage von Befragungen: Ein Überblick," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    15. Chiappero-Martinetti, Enrica & Moroni, Stefano, 2007. "An analytical framework for conceptualizing poverty and re-examining the capability approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 360-375, June.
    16. Griewald, Yuliana & Rauschmayer, Felix, 2013. "Exploring a nature-related conflict from a capability perspective," UFZ Discussion Papers 7/2013, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    17. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2014. "Measuring Economic Insecurity in Rich and Poor Nations," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 53-76, May.
    18. Truong, T.-D., 2006. "Human Security and the Governmentality of Neo-Liberal Mobility," ISS Working Papers - General Series 22524, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    19. Jürgen Volkert & Friedrich Schneider, 2011. "The Application of the Capability Approach to High-Income OECD Countries: A Preliminary Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 3364, CESifo.
    20. Prabal Roy Chowdhury, 2004. "Group-lending with sequential financing, joint liability and social capital," Discussion Papers 04-23, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:qeh:ophiwp:ophiwp008. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: IT Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/qehoxuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.