Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- General Introduction
- Part I Historical Antecedents and Philosophical Debates
- Part II Methods, Measurement and Empirical Evidence
- Introduction to Part II
- 13 Social Choice and the Capability Approach
- 14 On Capability and its Measurement
- 15 Analyzing Capabilities
- 16 Implementing the Capability Approach with Respect for Individual Valuations
- 17 Capability, Opportunity, Outcome and Equality
- 18 The Distribution of Capabilities
- 19 Inter-Group Disparities in the Distribution of Human Development
- 20 Multidimensional Inequality and Human Development
- 21 The Research Agenda on Multidimensional Poverty Measurement
- 22 Measuring Gender Inequality Using the Capability Approach
- 23 Econometric and Statistical Models for Operationalizing the Capability Approach
- 24 Expanding Capabilities through Participatory Action Research
- Part III Issues in Public Policy
- Index
- References
14 - On Capability and its Measurement
from Part II - Methods, Measurement and Empirical Evidence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2020
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- General Introduction
- Part I Historical Antecedents and Philosophical Debates
- Part II Methods, Measurement and Empirical Evidence
- Introduction to Part II
- 13 Social Choice and the Capability Approach
- 14 On Capability and its Measurement
- 15 Analyzing Capabilities
- 16 Implementing the Capability Approach with Respect for Individual Valuations
- 17 Capability, Opportunity, Outcome and Equality
- 18 The Distribution of Capabilities
- 19 Inter-Group Disparities in the Distribution of Human Development
- 20 Multidimensional Inequality and Human Development
- 21 The Research Agenda on Multidimensional Poverty Measurement
- 22 Measuring Gender Inequality Using the Capability Approach
- 23 Econometric and Statistical Models for Operationalizing the Capability Approach
- 24 Expanding Capabilities through Participatory Action Research
- Part III Issues in Public Policy
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter is concerned with the measurement of an individual’s capability or freedom of choice in the functioning space. We discuss the link between the problem of measuring an individual’s freedom of choice and the problem of how we formulate the notion of such freedom. We present several approaches to the problem of measuring capability and freedom of choice, and discuss the issue of interpersonal comparisons of capability. In the process, we also clarify the concept of capability.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach , pp. 271 - 292Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Arrow, K. J. 1995. ‘A Note on Freedom’, in Basu, K, Pattanaik, P. K. and Suzumura, K (eds.). Choice, Welfare and Development: A Festschrift in Honour of Amartya K. Sen. Oxford University Press: 7–16.Google Scholar
Basu, K. 1987. ‘Achievements, Capabilities and the Concept of Well-Being’. Social Choice and Welfare 4: 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basu, K. and López-Calva, L. 2011. ‘Functionings and Capabilities’, in Arrow, K, Sen, A. K. and Suzumura, K (eds.). Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare, vol. II. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 153–188.Google Scholar
Bervoets, S. 2009. ‘Freedom of Choice in a Social Context: Comparing Game Forms’. Social Choice and Welfare 29: 295–315.Google Scholar
Bervoets, S. and Gravel, N. 2007. ‘Appraising Diversity with an Ordinal Notion of Similarity: An Axiomatic Approach’. Mathematical Social Sciences 53: 259–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowding, K. and van Hees, M. 2009. ‘Freedom of Choice’, in Anand, P, Pattanaik, P. K. and Puppe, C (eds.). The Handbook of Rational and Social Choice. Oxford University Press: 374–392.Google Scholar
Farina, F., Peluso, E. and Savaglio, E. 2004. ‘Ranking Opportunity Sets in the Space of Functionings’. Journal of Economic Inequality 2: 105–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, J. 1992. ‘Effective Freedom’. Mimeo. Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University.Google Scholar
Foster, J. 2011. ‘Freedom, Opportunity, and Well-Being’, in Arrow, K. J., Sen, A and Suzumura, K (eds.). Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare. Amsterdam: North-Holland: 687–728.Google Scholar
Gustafsson, J. E. 2010. ‘Freedom of Choice and Expected Compromise’. Social Choice and Welfare 35: 65–79.Google Scholar
Jones, P. and Sugden, R. 1982. ‘Evaluating Choices’. International Review of Law and Economics 2: 47–65.Google Scholar
Kant, I. 1785. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Trans. T. K. Abbott (ed. with revisions Denis, L). New York: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Koopmans, T. C. 1962. ‘On Flexibility of Future Preference’. Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 150. Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.Google Scholar
Kreps, D. 1979. ‘A Representation Theorem for “Preference for Flexibility”’. Econometrica 47: 565–577.Google Scholar
MacCallum, G. C. Jr. 1967. ‘Negative and Positive Freedom’. Philosophical Review 76: 312–334.Google Scholar
Mill, J. S. 1859. ‘On Liberty’. Repr. in Mill, J. S.. 1962. Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Essays on Bentham, together with Selected Writings of Jeremy Bentham and John Austin (ed. Warnock, M). New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Natenzon, P. 2010. ‘Subjective Ambiguity and Preference for Flexibility’. Princeton Economic Theory Center Working Paper 006, 9 September.Google Scholar
Nehring, C. and Puppe, C. 2002. ‘A Theory of Diversity’. Econometrica 70: 1155–1198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nussbaum, M. C. 1988. ‘Nature, Function, and Capability: Aristotle on Political Distribution’. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 1 (suppl. vol.): 145–184.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, F. E. 1995. ‘Social Freedom and its Parameters’. Journal of Theoretical Politics 7: 403–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oppenheim, F. E. 2004. ‘Social Freedom: Definition, Measurability, Valuation’. Social Choice and Welfare 22: 175–185.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. 1994. ‘Rights and Freedom in Welfare Economics’. European Economic Review 38: 731–738.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 1990. ‘On Ranking Opportunity Sets in Terms of Freedom of Choice’. Recherches Economiques de Louvain 56: 383–390.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 1998. ‘On Preference and Freedom’. Theory and Decision 44: 173–198.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2000a. ‘On Diversity and Freedom of Choice’. Mathematical Social Sciences 40: 123–130.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2000b. ‘On Ranking Opportunity Sets in Economic Environments’. Journal of Economic Theory 93: 48–71.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2007. ‘Minimal Relativism, Dominance, and Standard of Living Comparisons Based on Functionings’. Oxford Economic Papers 59: 354–379.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2008. ‘Ordinal Distance, Dominance, and the Measurement of Diversity’, in Pattanaik, P. K., Tadenuma, K, Xu, Y and Yoshihara, N (eds.). Rational Choice and Social Welfare. Berlin: Springer-Verlag: 187–218.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2009. ‘Conceptions of Individual Rights and Freedom in Welfare Economics: A Reexamination’, in Dumouchel, P and Gotoh, R (eds.). Against Injustice: Ethics, Economics, and the Law. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2012. ‘Some Foundational Issues in the Functioning and Capability Approach to the Concept of Well-Being’, in UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee (ed.). Social and Cultural Development of Human Resources. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Developed under the auspices of UNESCO. Oxford: EOLSS Publishers.Google Scholar
Pattanaik, P. K. and Xu, Y. 2015. ‘Freedom and Its Value’, in Hirose, I and Olson, J (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Value Theory. New York: Oxford University Press: 356–380.Google Scholar
Puppe, C. 1996. ‘An Axiomatic Approach to Preference for Freedom of Choice’. Journal of Economic Theory 68: 174–199.Google Scholar
Puppe, C. and Xu, Y. 2010. ‘Essential Alternatives and Freedom Rankings’. Social Choice and Welfare 35: 669–685.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. 1987. ‘The Standard of Living’, in Sen, A. The Standard of Living (ed. Hawthorn, G). Cambridge University Press: 1–38.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. 1990. ‘Welfare, Freedom, and Social Choice: A Reply’. Récherches Economiques de Louvain 56: 451–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. K. 1991. ‘Welfare, Preference and Freedom’. Journal of Econometrics 50: 15–29.Google Scholar
Steiner, H. 1983. ‘How Free: Computing Personal Liberty’. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 15: 73–89.Google Scholar
Tadenuma, K. and Xu, Y. 2017. ‘Distribution of the Budget Sets: An Axiomatic Analysis’. Social Choice and Welfare 48/1: 221–237.Google Scholar
van Hees, M. 1998. ‘On the Analysis of Negative Freedom’. Theory and Decision 45: 175–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Hees, M. 2004. ‘Freedom of Choice and Diversity of Options: Some Difficulties’. Social Choice and Welfare 22: 253–266.Google Scholar
Weikard, H.-P. 2002. ‘Diversity Function and the Value of Biodiversity’. Land Economics 78: 20–27.Google Scholar
Xu, Y. 2003. ‘On Ranking Compact and Comprehensive Opportunity Sets’. Mathematical Social Sciences 45: 109–119.Google Scholar
Xu, Y. 2004. ‘On Ranking Linear Budget Sets in Terms of Freedom of Choice’. Social Choice and Welfare 22: 281–289.Google Scholar