Understanding inclusive growth: Access to economic and development opportunities

Inclusive growth is one of the most talked about issues in developing countries, especially those in transition, these days. It has been pretty much widely accepted that growth alone is not sufficient; it has to be followed by wider access to economic opportunities and provision of social protection for those left out of the growth process.

ADB has come up with a framework for inclusive growth, which has three main components:  (i) High and sustainable growth; (ii) Access to economic and social development opportunities; and (iii) Stronger social protection. 

It also has a list of 35 indicators to quantify (either directly or via proxies) inclusive growth. This follow up to an earlier blog post sheds some light on the second pillar of inclusive growth, i.e. access to economic and social development opportunities.

The second pillar emphasizes broader access to economic and social development opportunities, especially for the poor and disadvantaged. Its components include improvements in:

• Basic services including health, education, water and sanitation, and electricity
• Urban development for the poor
• Rural development
• Inclusionary reforms
• Public sector management

The table below shows the quantifiable indicators for the second pillar of inclusive growth. The information and data in this blog come from ADB’s FIGI 2012 and the related dataset (Nepal only; for other countries, see this one).

Social Inclusion to Ensure Equal Access to Economic Opportunity	1990 or Nearest Year		2010 or Latest Year
Access and Inputs to Education and Health
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary) years	8.8	(2000)	8.9	(2002)
by Sex
Male	10.0	(2000)	9.9	(2002)
Female	7.5	(2000)	7.9	(2002)
Pupil-teacher ratio (primary)	39		30	(2011)
Diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage among 1-year-olds  percent	43		82
by Residence
Urban	...		93	(2006)
Rural	...		88	(2006)
Urban-to-rural ratio	...		1.1	(2006)
by Wealth Quintile
Lowest	...		75	(2006)
Highest	...		96	(2006)
Highest-to-lowest ratio	...		1.3	(2006)
Physicians, nurses, and midwives per 10,000 population	...		6.7	(2004)
Physicians	...		2.1	(2004)
Nurses and Midwives	...		4.6	(2004)
Government expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure	14.0	(1995)	17.9	(2011)
Government expenditure on health as a percentage of total government expenditure	4.1	(1995)	7.2	(2011)
Access to Basic Infrastructure Utilities and Services
Population with access to electricity percent	15.4	(2000)	43.6	(2009)
by Residence
Urban	...		89.7	(2008)
Rural	...		34.0	(2008)
Urban-to-rural ratio	...		2.6	(2008)
Share of population using solid fuels for cooking  percent	88.3	(2001)	83.3	(2006)
by Residence
Urban	39.1	(2001)	39.1	(2006)
Rural	94.1	(2001)	92.3	(2006)
by Wealth Quintile
Lowest	...		100.0	(2006)
Highest	...		31.3	(2006)
Population using improved drinking water sources  percent	76		89
by Residence
Urban	96		93
Rural	74		88
Population using improved sanitation facilities  percent	10		31
by Residence
Urban	37		48
Rural	7		27
Gender Equality and Opportunity
Gender parity in education
Primary	0.63	(1991)	0.86	(2002)
Secondary	0.46	(1991)	0.89	(2006)
Tertiary	0.33	(1991)	0.40	(2004)
Antenatal care coverage of at least one visit  percent of live births	15.4	(1991)	58.3	(2011)
by Residence
Urban	...		84.6	(2006)
Rural	...		37.5	(2006)
Urban-to-rural ratio	...		2.3	(2006)
by Wealth Quintile
Lowest	...		17.7	(2006)
Highest	...		84.1	(2006)
Highest-to-lowest ratio	...		4.8	(2006)
Antenatal care coverage of at least four visits  percent of live births	8.8	(1996)	29.4	(2006)
by Residence
Urban	...		51.9	(2006)
Rural	...		26.0	(2006)
Urban-to-rural ratio	...		2.0	(2006)
by Wealth Quintile
Lowest	...		11.0	(2006)
Highest	...		60.0	(2006)
Highest-to-lowest ratio	...		5.5	(2006)
Gender parity in labor force participation (Aged 15 and over)	0.88		0.92	(2011)
Percentage of seats held by women in national parliament	6.1		33.2	(2012)

In the next blog post, I will share information about the third pillar of inclusive growth (stronger social protection).

Understanding inclusive growth: High and sustainable growth

Inclusive growth is one of the most talked about issues in developing countries, especially those in transition, these days. It has been pretty much widely accepted that growth alone is not sufficient; it has to be followed by wider access to economic opportunities and provision of social protection for those left out of the growth process.

ADB has come up with a framework for inclusive growth, which has three main components:  (i) High and sustainable growth; (ii) Access to economic and social development opportunities; and (iii) Stronger social protection. 

It also has a list of 35 indicators to quantify (either directly or via proxies) inclusive growth. It is not yet clear what benchmark to use: either within country benchmark relative to earlier years or regional average or both. Anyway, any quantifiable indicators to measure inclusive growth is good to get thoughts straight on this hugely important yet not entirely clear (definition wise) issue.

The first pillar of inclusive growth emphasizes high and sustainable growth to create and expand economic opportunities. Its components include strengthened

• Infrastructure
• Technology
• Human capital
• Private sector
• Finance sector
• Public sector management
• Regulatory regimes

The table below shows the quantifiable indicators for high and sustainable growth (first pillar of inclusive growth). The information and data in this blog comes from ADB’s FIGI 2012 and the related dataset (Nepal only; for other countries, see this one).

Growth and Expansion of Economic Opportunity	1990 or Nearest Year		2010 or Latest Year
Economic Growth and Employment
Annualized growth rate of GDP per capita at PPP (constant 2005 PPP$)	2.6	(1990–1995)	2.5	(2005–2010)
Annualized growth rate of average per capita income or consumption (2005 PPP$)
Total	4.7	(1996–2003)	3.4	(2003–2010)
Lowest quintile	2.3	(1996–2003)	6.8	(2003–2010)
Highest quintile	6.7	(1996–2003)	0.4	(2003–2010)
Employment-to-population ratio
Youth (Aged 15–24)	78.8	(1991)	73.1	(2011)
Male	81.0	(1991)	73.3	(2011)
Female	76.5	(1991)	72.8	(2011)
Aged 15 years and over	67.2	(1996)	91.6	(2003)
Male	71.0	(1996)	90.0	(2003)
Female	63.7	(1996)	93.0	(2003)
GDP per person engaged (constant 1990 PPP$)	...		...
Number of own-account and contributing family workers per 100 wage and salaried workers	...		290.6	(2001)
by Sex
Male	...		185.1	(2001)
Female	...		654.7	(2001)
Key Infrastructure Endowments
Electricity consumption  per capita kWh	35		91	(2009)
Paved roads  percent of total roads	37.5		53.9	(2008)
Number of cellular phone subscriptions per 100 people	0.0	(2000)	43.8	(2011)
Depositors with commercial banks per 1,000 adults	...		...

In the next blog post, I will share information about the second pillar of inclusive growth (access to economic and social development opportunities).