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In many applications of the capability approach it is necessary to rank individuals with respect to their well-being. This raises the difficult question of how to select the weights to be attached to the relevant functionings or capabilities that constitute well-being. In this chapter, we explore the possibility of using individual valuations to set these weights and we propose to use equivalent income as a specific well-being measure that is consistent with these individual valuations. We discuss its implementation and compare the results to four alternative well-being measures based on Colombian data for 2008: income, subjective well-being, the official SISBEN index, and the Colombian Multidimensional Poverty Index (CMPI). To do that, we estimate the valuations of the individuals using a life satisfaction equation. We find that there is remarkably little overlap between the alternative measures when used to identify the worst-off. The different well-being measures identify different individuals as worst-off. The equivalent income measure identifies individuals with a lower income, who are in worse health, live in a house of lower value and have a larger chance of being unemployed. This finding highlights the empirical relevance of the selection of the well-being measure when implementing the capability approach.

This report summarises some of the most relevant theoretical and empirical challenges associated with the measurement and analysis of multidimensional inequalities. Each section delves into a specific topic, presents a state-of-the-art review of the key findings in that particular area, and proposes a number of policy recommendations and avenues for further research. The themes covered in this report range from the multidimensional nature of human wellbeing and quality of life, the multiplicity of life domains in which substantial inequalities can be found, the dynamic nature of those inequalities, the transmission of advantages and disadvantages over time, the availability of new data sources for fine-grained data collection and higher spatial resolution policy-making, the interplay of individual effort and external circumstances when it comes to identifying a just distribution of opportunities in society, as well as the relevance of lifetime approaches for the study of economic inequalities within countries. The content of this work will provide help and guidance to policy-makers willing to understand and tackle inequalities from a broader multidimensional perspective, beyond the narrow limits of economic indicators alone.

This report summarises some of the most relevant theoretical and empirical challenges associated with the measurement and analysis of multidimensional inequalities. Each section delves into a specific topic, presents a state-of-the-art review of the key findings in that particular area, and proposes a number of policy recommendations and avenues for further research. The themes covered in this report range from the multidimensional nature of human wellbeing and quality of life, the multiplicity of life domains in which substantial inequalities can be found, the dynamic nature of those inequalities, the transmission of advantages and disadvantages over time, the availability of new data sources for fine-grained data collection and higher spatial resolution policy-making, the interplay of individual effort and external circumstances when it comes to identifying a just distribution of opportunities in society, as well as the relevance of lifetime approaches for the study of economic inequalities within countries. The content of this work will provide help and guidance to policy-makers willing to understand and tackle inequalities from a broader multidimensional perspective, beyond the narrow limits of economic indicators alone., JRC.I.1-Monitoring, Indicators & Impact Evaluation

This chapter addresses key questions in terms of the evaluation of the impact of social innovation processes. After reviewing the existing approaches to capturing impact, the chapter presents a new Critical Issues Framework for social impact measurement to inform the development of the most appropriate and accurate evaluative space for data collection and analysis. As such it advocates standardization in the process of developing social impact indicators and methodologies, rather than in the metrics and units of analysis themselves. This framework is related to the three elements of the Social Grid in so far as they shape normative models of social impact measurement that entrench marginalization and limit stakeholder voice. Moreover, particular attention is paid to issues around capturing changes in human capabilities and how this relates to beneficiary empowerment and voice. The chapter, thus, offers a framework for optimizing impact measurement processes and systems.

This chapter describes two empirical approaches with which social innovation and its potentially transformative role can be studied. Both are oriented towards the Extended Social Grid Model (ESGM) and strive to bring its abstract categories on the ground and facilitate empirical analyses; first an analysis of long-term comprehensive case studies; and second a mixed-method approach inspired by the capability approach for evaluating the impact of social innovations. Both approaches enter new ground in social innovation research and supply valuable insights into the nature of social innovation and how it can be examined. The historical approach reveals the complexities of social innovation trajectories; the agency oriented approach of the more quantitative study opens new paths for a measurement of social innovation impacts that can be applied in many situations.

The increasing attention gained by the intertemporal aspect of poverty has led to the flourishing of measurement tools which are informed by conflicting views on deprivation dynamics. We test individual preferences for alternative intertemporal poverty patterns using primary data from a sample of 1,083 undergraduate students and a heterogeneous sample of 310 adults in the Dominican Republic. For both samples the strongest concerns are chronic (rather than intermittent) and poverty in the second rather than in the first part of one’s life. Preferences are significantly affected by a duration-based between-subject randomly assigned treatment. Individual characteristics such as age and standard of living are significant predictors of respondents’ views.

Trabajo presentado a las XXIII Jornadas de la Asociación de Economía de la Educación (AEDE) que se celebraron en la sede de INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) en Valencia del 2 al 4 de julio del 2014.-- Área 1: Demanda, financiación y equidad. Track 1: Demand for schooling, educational finance and equity., La evaluación de la calidad de los programas académicos se basa normalmente en criterios objetivos, cuantitativamente medibles, sobre la base de que la educación es esencialmente una inversión en el capital humano, en coherencia con una visión de la sociedad y la educación centrada en el mercado. En este artículo, sostenemos que los valores fundamentales del Desarrollo Humano (DH) tales como el bienestar, la participación y el empoderamiento, la equidad y la diversidad y la sostenibilidad, son igualmente relevantes, tanto personal como profesionalmente, y deben ser considerados en la evaluación de la calidad de la educación superior, en particular en el caso de los programas de Máster en Cooperación al Desarrollo.

This book promotes a radical alternative impact on youth policy in Europe to overcome the situation of vulnerability and discrimination of a growing number of youngsters in their transition from school to work. It follows a Human Development perspective in using the Capability Approach (CA) as analytical and methodological guiding tool to improve the social conditions of the most socially vulnerable young people in European societies. The mission of the interdisciplinary authors is to expand the actual chances of the young to actively shape their lives in a way they have reason to choose and value. This book is based on the research of the EU Collaborative Project “Making Capabilities Work” (WorkAble), funded by the EU within the Seventh Framework Programme. It is the first empirical project to pursue a justice theory perspective on a European level. It also contributes to a fundamental change in the currently mostly insufficient attempts within the human capital approach to use the labour market to ensure desired lifestyle forms and a secure income for vulnerable youth.