Berlin Workshop Series 2006 : Equity and Development

Kochendö ; rfer-Lucius, Gudrun ; Pleskovic, Boris

Washington, DC : World Bank

关键词: ABSOLUTE POVERTY;    AGGREGATE OUTPUT;    CAPACITY BUILDING;    CAPITAL MARKET;    CAPITAL MARKETS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-6105-4
RP-ID  :  35918

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This year, the workshop examined theconceptual foundation of the workshop sessions by discussingthe definition of equity itself. What do we mean by equity,and how does equity differ from equality? Whereas equity iscommonly associated positively with impartiality andjustice, economists understand equality as an idealistic andunattainable goal often linked to socialism and communism.The terminological twins equity/equality, however, can beconceptualized in highly diverging ways with differentconsequences for development strategy. The discussionsthroughout the workshop mirror the controversial positionsof international discourse on the topic. Through the varyingdimensions of these terms, discussions focused on thedifferent responsibilities for political action such termsentail. For example, whereas equality in outcome implies anegalitarian perspective, economic studies on inequality inoutcome mostly take into account the results of actions andconditions such as unequal incomes. Session I, on what isequity, and, what is the role for governments in thepromotion of equity, further discussed how does this rolediffer between developed and developing countries.Nonetheless, it was suggested that before operationalizingand measuring inequity, the concept itself has to beclarified, and, further arguments indicated that one futurechallenge for development policy is precisely to combinegrowth-promoting policies with policies that assure that thepoor can fully participate in the opportunities that growthoffers. Session II, on equity-enhancing socialtransformation and historical evidence from European andTransition Countries, focus on policies that impact equity.Session III, on building efficient welfare states andlessons learnt, discussed the task of formulating policiesthat foster both efficiency and equitable social welfare,while Session IV, on international inequalities and what canbe done to reduce them, focuses on the global level,contrary to Session III which concentrated on equity issuesat the national level. Finally, Session V, on what willgreater integration mean for inequalities between and withinthe richer and poorer countries of the New Europe, draws avery differentiated picture. Conclusions outlined key issuesthat need to be addressed, noting the importance ofcarefully analyzing different redistributive instrumentswith respect to their effects on growth and efficiency, andvice versa.