Artha Vijnana: Journal of The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Assessing the Well-Being of India's Elderly:Applying Amartya Sen's Capability Approach


Affiliations
1 International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Well-being is an inexplicit concept- hard to define and conceptualise, and even harder to operationalize. Composite measures using macro level data are no doubt important as they provide a broader picture but they can only give little insights on individual well-being. The current study is an attempt to bridge this gap by conducting an assessment of the well-being of India's elderly by applying Amartya Sen's Capability Approach. Since the indicators used as a proxy for the respective functioning achievements in each domain are of a mixed nature, an Optimal Scaling method is performed in order to identify the principal components of overall well-being which allows variables to be scaled at different levels as a result of non-linear relationships between them can be modelled. For comparison across the well-being domains, the fuzzy set approach has been employed that handles continuous and ordinal variables simultaneously, and is generally used in the capability approach for micro-level analysis. By disaggregating the overall well-being score by age and sex, the grim scenario of gender disparity in later life is evident across major domains, thus throwing light on the cultural paradox which still persists in India.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Anand, S. and A. Sen (2000), Human Development and Economic Sustainability, World Development, 28(12): 2029-2049.

  • Anand, S. and M. Ravallion (1993), Human Development in Poor Countries: On the Role of Private Incomes and Public Services, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(1): 133-150.

  • Asselin, L.M. (2009), Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty: Theory and Case Studies, Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion and Well-Being (Vol. 7), Springer: Canada.

  • Balestrino, A. (1996), A Note on Functioning-Poverty in Affluent Societies, in A. Balestrino, I.

  • Carter (Eds.), Functionings and Capabilities: Normative and Policy Issues, Notizie di Politeia (special issue, no. 43/44), Milano.

  • Balestrino, A. and N. Sciclone (2001), Should we Use Functionings instead of Income to Measure Well-Being? Theory, and Some Evidence from Italy, Revista Internazionale di Scienza Soziali, 109(1): 1-20.

  • Brandolini, A. and Giovanni D'Alessio (1998), Measuring Well-being in the Functioning Space, Rome: Banca d'Italia.

  • Cerioli, A. and S. Zani (1990), A Fuzzy Approach to the Measurement of Poverty, in Dagum, C.and M. Zenga (Eds.), Income and Wealth Distribution, Inequality and Poverty, Berlin, Springer Verlag.

  • Cheli, B. and A. Lemmi (1995), A "Totally" Fuzzy and Relative Approach to the Multidimensional Analysis of Poverty, Economic Notes by Monte dei Paschi Siena, pp. 115-134.

  • Chiappero Martinetti, E. (1994), A New Approach to Evaluation of Well-being and Poverty by Fuzzy Set Theory, Giornale Degli Economisti e Annali di Economia, 7-9: 67-388 ---------- (2000), A Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Well-Being Based on Sen's Functioning Theory, Revista Internazionale di Scienza Soziali, CVIII(2): 207-239.

  • Chiappero-Martinetti, E. and J.M. Roche (2009), Operationalization of the Capability Approach, from Theory to Practice: A Review of Techniques and Empirical Applications, in ChiapperoMartinetti, E. (Ed.), Debating Global Society: Reach and Limits of the Capability Approach, Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Milan.

  • Clark, D.A. (2005a), Capability Approach: Its Development, Critic and Recent Advances, Economic, Social and Research Council, Global Poverty Research Group, Working Paper 32.

  • ---------- (2005b), Sen’s Capabilities Approach and the Many Spaces of Human Wellbeing, Journal of Development Studies, 41(8): 1339-1368, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080 percent2F00220380500186853.

  • Dasgupta, P. (1990), Well-being and the Extent of its Realisation in Poor Countries, Economic Journal, 100(400): 1-32.

  • ---------- (1993), An Enquiry into Well-being and Destitution, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

  • Frey, B.S. and A. Stutzer (2002), Happiness and Economics, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

  • Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko (2003), The Human Development Paradigm: Operationalizing Sen’s Ideas on Capabilities, Feminist Economics, 9(2–3): 301–317.

  • Gorman, W. (1980): A Possible Procedure for Analysing Quality Differentials in the Egg Market, Review of Economic Studies, 47(5): 843-856

  • Haq, Mahbubul (1995), Reflections on Human Development, New York: Oxford University Press.

  • IIPS and WHO (2013), Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), Wave1, India, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai and World Health Organization, Geneva.

  • Kuklys, W. (2005), Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach (Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications), Springer: Amsterdam.

  • Laderchi, C.R. (1997), Poverty and Its Many Dimensions: The Role of Income as an Indicator, Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, 25(3): 345-360.

  • Lancaster, K. (1966), A New Approach to Consumer Theory, Journal of Political Economy, 74: 132-157.

  • Lelli, S. (2001), Factor Analysis vs Fuzzy Sets Theory: Assessing the Influence of Different Techniques on Sen’s Functioning Approach, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Discussion Paper Series (DPS) 01.21. http://www.econ.kuleuven.be/ces/discussionpapers/default.html

  • Majumder, A. (2007), A Multidimensional Assessment of Well-Being of Indian Women Based on Amartya Sen's Functioning Approach, Journal of Social and Economic Policy, 4(2): 155-187.

  • ---------- (2009), Capability and Women’s Well-Being in India: An Empirical Study Based on National Family Health Survey- 2 & 3, Paper presented at the 18th Annual Meeting of the IAFFE in Boston, USA, June 26-28.

  • Robeyns, I. (2006), The Capability Approach in Practice, Journal of Political Philosophy, 14(3): 351–376.

  • Schokkaert, E. and L. Van Ootegem (1990), Sen's Concept of the Living Standard Applied to the Belgian Unemployed, Recherches Economiques de Louvain, 56(3-4): 429-450.

  • Sen, A. (1985), Commodities and Capabilities, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 7-10.

  • ---------- (1990), Development as Capability Expansion, in Keith Griffin and John Knight (Eds.), Human Development and the International Development Strategy for the 1990s, London: Macmillan, pp. 41-58.

  • ---------- (1992), Inequality Reexamined, Harvard University Press, p. 39.

  • ---------- (1999), Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

  • Sengupta, A. (2014), Measuring Inter-Personal Variations of Well-being in India: A HouseholdLevel Study on Sen’s Capability Approach, Paper Prepared for the IARIW 33rd General Conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 24-30.

  • Smithson, M. and J. Verkuilen (2006), Fuzzy Set Theory: Applications in the Social Sciences, Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi, SAGE Publications.

  • Temitayo, A.A. and A.O. Omobowale (2013), A Functioning Approach to Well Being Analysis in Rural Nigeria, Sustainable Agriculture Research, 2(1): 149.

  • United Nations Development Programme (1990), Human Development Report 1990, New York: Oxford University Press.

  • United Nations Development Programme (1999), Human Development Report 1999, New York: Oxford, University Press.

  • Zadeh, L.A. (1965), Fuzzy Sets, Information and Control, 8(3): 338-353.


Abstract Views: 671

PDF Views: 2




  • Assessing the Well-Being of India's Elderly:Applying Amartya Sen's Capability Approach

Abstract Views: 671  |  PDF Views: 2

Authors

Namrata Ray
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India
T. V. Sekher
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India

Abstract


Well-being is an inexplicit concept- hard to define and conceptualise, and even harder to operationalize. Composite measures using macro level data are no doubt important as they provide a broader picture but they can only give little insights on individual well-being. The current study is an attempt to bridge this gap by conducting an assessment of the well-being of India's elderly by applying Amartya Sen's Capability Approach. Since the indicators used as a proxy for the respective functioning achievements in each domain are of a mixed nature, an Optimal Scaling method is performed in order to identify the principal components of overall well-being which allows variables to be scaled at different levels as a result of non-linear relationships between them can be modelled. For comparison across the well-being domains, the fuzzy set approach has been employed that handles continuous and ordinal variables simultaneously, and is generally used in the capability approach for micro-level analysis. By disaggregating the overall well-being score by age and sex, the grim scenario of gender disparity in later life is evident across major domains, thus throwing light on the cultural paradox which still persists in India.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.21648/arthavij%2F2016%2Fv58%2Fi4%2F153061