The Capability Approach and
Employment
Professor Robert Raeside
Employment Research Institute
[email protected]
The Capability Approach
• Amartya Sen,
• Born 1933 in Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
• Primary education in
Tagore’s school in
Santiniketan, India.
• Witnessed Bengal famine
in which 2-3 million
people died.
• Received Nobel prize
1998 for contribution to
Welfare Economics
Key Concepts
• Freedom – is the key - “the real opportunity that we have
to accomplish what we value”
• Beyond Maslow and Herzberg’s notion – but similar to self
actualisation
• The notion is people can try to achieve their ambition – the
influence of Tagore or from Scotland Burns
• But the social/production system gets in the way – Marx
• Need to get people beyond food, shelter to allow self
actualisation
• “The ‘good life’ is partly a life of genuine choice, and not
one in which the person is forced into a particular life –
however rich it might be in other respects.”
Main ideas
Sen argued for five components in assessing capability:
• The importance of real freedoms in the assessment of
a person's advantage
• Individual differences in the ability to transform
resources into valuable activities
• The multivariate nature of activities giving rise to
happiness
• A balance of materialistic and nonmaterialistic factors
in evaluating human welfare
• Concern for the distribution of opportunities within
society
Building blocks of capability approach
Commodities: basic economic resource
Capability Set – a persons innate ability – can’t be operationalised without
commodities and conversion factors
Conversion factors – the infrastructure to allow change – socio/political system
Functionings – what people do and achieve – “happiness/ satisfaction” – hard to
define in economic terms
Agency/choice - External structures & policy/ Choice relates to the service
transaction
Failure to systematise
Scarring
Commodities
Resources available to the individual
Household wealth
Household Human Capital
Household social capital
Capability Set
• Health/Physical ability
• Intellect – not only education but being
“street wise”
• Skill set
• Ability to access and mobilise social capital
• Confidence – perception of self worth.
Social networks
Unemployed < 50 yr old
Open circles = unskilled
Grey circles = semi skilled
Black circles = professionals
Gayen et al
Return to employment < 50 yr
old
Access and mobilisation of Social Capital
Satisfaction with Life
P( Satisfied ) = f ( D, H , S , E , B) + ε
and the logistic model was:
 P ( satisfied )i 
 =
log it 
−
1
P
(
satisfied
)
i 

5
3
2
2
2
j =1
j =1
j =1
j =1
j =1
α t + ∑ β jt Dit + ∑ δ jt H it + ∑ φ jt Sit + ∑ ϕ jt Ei +γ tBit + ∑ d jtYit + ε it
Satisfaction with Life
1998
0.207
2003
2008
1.177*** 0.707
Age at Date of
Interview
Single
-0.223**
-0.147
0.135
-0.643
-1.214
0.414
Children in
household
0.018
-0.438
1.212*
-0.305
-0.05
0.474
-0.082
0.702
-0.872
0.093
0.019
-0.847
-0.465
-0.636
-0.957
-1.941*
-0.844
-0.601
-2.018*
Female
Number of people in 0.015
household
Rent house
-0.165
Qualification
(baseline degree+)
HND, HNC,
Teaching
A level
O Level, CSE
None
Satisfaction with Life (contd.)
1998
2003
2008
0.358*
0.182
0.222
0.358
0.617**
0.607***
0.2
0.428*
Unemployed +
Other
1.11
0.48
-2.504
1.38
1.26
Natural log of last
month’s pay
0.306
0.968**
0.567
Frequency of talking 0.357**
to neighbours
Frequency of
meeting people
Financial situation
Employment Status
(baseline employed)
Satisfaction with Life (contd.)
1998
Annual weeks
-0.041*
unemployed: year to
Sept 1+
Losing confidence
2003
2008
0.014
-0.926*** -1.642*** -1.391***
Weeks unemployed
5 years ago
-0.01
-0.009
Pay change % from
1998 (10 Yr)
-1.278
Weeks unemployed
10 years ago
Constant
9.472***
-0.023
5.725
-2.729
Changes in Commodities and
Capability with Age
Losing confidence
Unemployed+
Female
1.5
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
-3.5
Single
Children in household
1998
2003
Number of people in
household
Financial situation
Frequency of meeting people
Frequency of talking to
neighbours
Rent house
No qualifications
2008
Change in Capabilities
Scotland
Dependents
Self Worth
2.00
16 & 17 yr old
18 to 24 yr olds
1.50
25 to 29 yr olds
1.00
30 to 34 yr olds
2005/6 2007/8 2009/10 2011/12
10.0%
18 to 24 yr olds
25 to 29 yr olds
30 to 34 yr olds
0.0%
2005/6 2007/8 2009/10 2011/12
25 to 29 yr olds
1.00
2005/6 2007/8 2009/10 2011/12
30 to 34 yr olds
Loosing confidence
1.00
16 & 17 yr old
Financial Well-being
18 to 24 yr olds
1.50
1.50
15.0%
16 & 17 yr old
2.00
2.00
20.0%
5.0%
Happiness
2.50
Unemployment %
16 & 17 yr old
3.00
2.50
16 & 17 yr old
2.00
18 to 24 yr olds
18 to 24 yr olds
1.50
25 to 29 yr olds
1.00
30 to 34 yr olds
25 to 29 yr olds
30 to 34 yr olds
2005/6 2007/8 2009/10 2011/12
Problems
•
•
•
•
•
Causality
Measurement
How can policy be enacted
Idea to become active - but why?
Recognition of Beings
Hoggett’s (2001)
Model of Agency
reflexivity
self-as-agent
self-as-object
non-reflexivity
Dr Sharon Wright University of Glasgow
New Jobs
Skills Required
Implications
Education
• Need a radical change to subject provision
• Understand future job requirements
• Flexibility
Policy
• Less emphasis on activation
• Consider the person
Individual
• Build capabilities
• Use networks and develop network skills
• Develop IT and communication skills
Employers
•
•
•
•
Better engagement with society and institutions
Virtual apprenticeships
How will they meet future skills needs
Understand the demography of the workforce will change.
Thank you
Questions?