Conceptualising and evaluating inclusive economic development: a productivity perspective

ABSTRACT

Although scholarly attention towards inclusive economic development is emergent, its concept and evaluation remain ambiguous since few attempts have been made to elaborate on its definitions and goals. In this study, we conceptualize and define inclusive economic development, propose a productivity perspective for evaluating it, and construct an inclusive total factor productivity index based on data envelopment analysis. According to the estimation results, we report and map the major findings of our index. The results demonstrate that although inclusive economic development is progressing globally, significant regional disparities persist.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive development
• social inclusion
• economic development
• productivity analysis

SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION CODES:

• O12
• O21
• R11

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program: [Grant Number S202011846043X, 202111846012, S202111846027].