Jürgen Volkert

The Capability Approach: A Framework for Official German Poverty and Wealth Reports

The Capability Approach has been adopted as a theoretical framework for official Poverty and Wealth Reports by the German government. Our article provides information on the use of the Capability Approach in this reporting process to international readers, which may give further insights for the future realization of Capability Approach-based official reporting in other countries. We provide an overview of the major theoretical, political and organizational issues that have been raised within and by the process of establishing the German reporting system. We further explain why the extension of the Capability Approach from poverty to wealth issues in German reports may be promising also for capability analyses in general. Finally, we discuss major shortcomings and challenges of the reporting and conclude.

Einstiegsgeld in Baden-Württemberg

Die folgende erste Zwischenbilanz des Modellversuchs „Einstiegsgeld in Baden-Wurttemberg“ basiert auf einer Sonderauswertung zum 31. Marz 2001. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine eingehende deskriptiv-statistische Analyse der Teilnehmerstruktur. Uber Mitnahmeeffekte kann zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt noch keine Aussage getroffen werden. Die folgenden Ergebnisse sind aus unserer Sicht berichtenswert, da sie die Reaktionen der Hilfeempfanger auf das Angebot Einstiegsgeld widerspiegeln, insbesondere das Verhalten der Hilfeempfanger nach Ablauf der Einstiegsgeldgewahrung. Zunachst aber noch einmal einige kurze Anmerkungen zur Konzeption des Einstiegsgeldes.

Corporate Contributions to Developing Health Capabilities

Abstract Despite the importance of the private sector for global development, few researchers have analyzed corporate impacts on capabilities and sustainable human development (SHD).1 Our article aims to contribute to an improved understanding of corporate potentials, impacts and risks for SHD. More specifically, we concentrate on health and health capabilities and exemplify our arguments based on our evaluation of health initiatives in the Bayer CropSciences Model Village Project (MVP). Based on representative primary quantitative survey data for two model and two control villages, as well as qualitative studies, we explain and analyze the corporate health-related activities in the model villages. We discuss how these corporate initiatives might fit into a business case, examine how they have changed the well-being of the populace as reported by the villagers, and provide results on stakeholder trust. Furthermore, we reconsider the risks of corporate neglect or even violation of important health issues. We conclude with lessons learned from the MVP and with consequences for subsequent capability approach research.

Capability Approach Applications in Germany: Official Poverty and Wealth Reporting and Beyond

In 2004, the German government decided to use Amartya Sen’s capability approach (CA) as a theoretical framework for Germany’s National Action Plans against Poverty and Social Exclusion in an EU context (German Government, 2003/2004). One year later, Sen’s CA was also adopted as a theoretical foundation for the government’s second Poverty and Wealth Report (PWR) (German Government, 2005) as well as for its third report (German Government, 2008). This governmental adoption of the CA as a foundation for official reports resulted in an increasing interest in the CA in Germany.

Die Wiederentdeckung des Reichtums

In den letzten Jahren ist das Phanomen des Reichtums zunehmend ins Zentrum offentlicher, politischer und wissenschaftlicher Aufmerksamkeit geruckt.