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Amartya Sen

Bio: Amartya Sen is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Poverty & Human rights. The author has an hindex of 149, co-authored 689 publications receiving 141907 citations. Previous affiliations of Amartya Sen include Trinity College, Dublin & University of Chicago.


Papers
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Amartya Sen1
TL;DR: In seeing health as a human right, there is a call to action now to advance people’s health in the same way that the 18th-century activists fought for freedom and liberty.

59 citations

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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors divide the problem of hunger into famine and endemic deprivation, and propose a number of remedial actions for India and sub-Saharan countries of Africa using economics, politics, health and educational standards.
Abstract: In this text of the Arturo Tanco Memorial Lecture the author divides the problem of hunger into famine and endemic deprivation, citing many examples, predominantly from India and the sub-Saharan countries of Africa. Remedial action has in the past often been prevented by prevailing pessimism, but by analysing economics, politics, health and educational standards of the affected countries, a number of remedial actions can be suggested. Famines are considered as failures of 'entitlements' which prevent people from purchasing food; this can be overcome by income creation and public intervention, preferably in the form of cash wages. These actions have proved effective in India. Endemic undernourishment and deprivation can benefit similarly from combined public and private action, provided a democratically elected government is susceptible to criticism from the media and the informed public.

59 citations

01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the family as an institution in a wide theoretical framework is discussed, focusing particularly on the institution of family and generally on issues of conflict as well as congruence of interests.
Abstract: MCNICOLL AND CAIN ARGUE AGAINST SEEING economic-demographic relationships in an institution-free way, yielding technocratic policy conclusions that are straightforward and conflict-free.' Institutions, conflicts, and inequalities are central to understanding rural development. In this essay I shall concentrate particularly on the institution of the family and generally on issues of conflict as well as congruence of interests. The presentation is largely theoretical (even though empirical illustrations will be given), and I shall try to place the role of the family as an institution in a wide theoretical framework. Social relations between different persons typically involve both conflict and congruence of interest. Economic analysis of social problems cannot go very far without coming to grips with both the combative and the cooperative aspects of interpersonal and intergroup relations. It is, however, possible to emphasize one of these two aspects more than the other, and indeed it is easy to see that various economists have chosen a rather different balance of what to stress and what to neglect. Adam Smith's focus on the congruent aspects of interests of different people is, of course, well known, with his pointer to the advantages that each gains from the other's pursuit of self-interest.2 On the other hand, Marx's analysis of class conflicts and exploitation focused particularly on combative aspects of intergroup relations.3 Of course, Marx too devoted much attention to exploring the congruent elements in social relations (e.g., the widely shared benefits that capitalist development may bring to a feudal society). Indeed, both elements figure in the writings of all the major economists, and the differences lie in the emphasis placed on congruence versus conflict. Walras's investigation of the mutual benefits from the general equilibrium of production and trade, and Keynes's study of how the effective demand of one may create employment for another, primarily focus on elements of congruence. In contrast, Ricardo's analysis of the adverse effects of profitable machinery on workers' employment,

59 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Amartya Sen1
TL;DR: The authors examined the comparative evidence from India and China on this subject as well as the inter-regional contrasts within India and concluded that social changes that expand the decisional power of young women (such as expansion of female literacy, or enhancement of female employment opportunity) can be major forces in the direction of reducing fertility rates.
Abstract: The people whose interests are most adversely affected by frequent bearing and rearing of children are young women. Social changes that expand the decisional power of young women (such as expansion of female literacy, or enhancement of female employment opportunity) can, thus, be major forces in the direction of reducing fertility rates. This “cooperative” route seems to act more securely – and often much faster – than the use of “coercion” in reducing family size and birth rates. This essay examines the comparative evidence from India and China on this subject as well as the interregional contrasts within India. JEL classification: J11, J13, O15

58 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Amartya Sen1

57 citations


Cited by
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TL;DR: This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Well-being is a complex construct that concerns optimal experience and functioning. Current research on well-being has been derived from two general perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning. These two views have given rise to different research foci and a body of knowledge that is in some areas divergent and in others complementary. New methodological developments concerning multilevel modeling and construct comparisons are also allowing researchers to formulate new questions for the field. This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.

8,243 citations

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TL;DR: The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) as mentioned in this paper was created to marshal the evidence on what can be done to promote health equity and to foster a global movement to achieve it.

7,335 citations

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08 Aug 2002-Nature
TL;DR: A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society.
Abstract: A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global useable lands and will shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades. New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public health.

6,569 citations

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the observational evidence for the current accelerated expansion of the universe and present a number of dark energy models in addition to the conventional cosmological constant, paying particular attention to scalar field models such as quintessence, K-essence and tachyon.
Abstract: We review in detail a number of approaches that have been adopted to try and explain the remarkable observation of our accelerating universe. In particular we discuss the arguments for and recent progress made towards understanding the nature of dark energy. We review the observational evidence for the current accelerated expansion of the universe and present a number of dark energy models in addition to the conventional cosmological constant, paying particular attention to scalar field models such as quintessence, K-essence, tachyon, phantom and dilatonic models. The importance of cosmological scaling solutions is emphasized when studying the dynamical system of scalar fields including coupled dark energy. We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations allowing us to confront them with the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure and demonstrate how it is possible in principle to reconstruct the equation of state of dark energy by also using Supernovae Ia observational data. We also discuss in detail the nature of tracking solutions in cosmology, particle physics and braneworld models of dark energy, the nature of possible future singularities, the effect of higher order curvature terms to avoid a Big Rip singularity, and approaches to modifying gravity which leads to a late-time accelerated expansion without recourse to a new form of dark energy.

5,954 citations