What Is Inclusive Growth?

Abstract

We need to make growth more inclusive—to expand access to opportunities so that all can participate, regardless of their individual circumstances. —Haruhiko Kuroda, ADB's President (2008) During the last few years, terms such as “harmonious society” in the People's Republic of China (PRC), “sufficient economy” in Thailand, and similar terms in other countries across Asia, have made their way into the discourse of policy makers. The message in all cases is similar: development is more than growth. The Commission on Growth and Development (2008) in its Growth Report also echoes the same sentiment. The Government of India, for example, boasts to have fostered “inclusive growth.” By this it means that the budget has increased allocations to school meals or rural road-building. The high-growth policies implemented across the region since the 1960s were successful and led to increases in per capita income and dramatic reductions in poverty, contributing to closing the gap with the developed world. But today a feeling has spread that policies and objectives need to be revised as citizens across Asia demand more than growth. Inequality, productive and decent employment, the environment, health, and climate change are becoming increasingly important in the agendas of policy makers. Institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also acknowledge the issue and argue that growth and globalization have to be inclusive .

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