Economic Growth and Social Justice in South Asia: An Interpretation of Empirical Evidence

This paper initially examines the level of development and the rate of economic growth in South Asian countries. Subsequently attention is shifted to examine how far economic growth has contributed to social justice. The level of development is examined conventionally in terms of relative per capita incomes, while the rate of economic growth is examined in terms of annual compound growth rate in real gross domestic product (GDP). For evaluating social justice several indices are used—relative income inequality, distribution of assets, proportion of population below the poverty line, and real earnings of agricultural labourers. Having consolidated the available literature on the subject, a search for their consistency is attempted and interpretations offered. The final section thus examines the evidence with respect to causation of inequality and offers policy guidelines. While the focus of the paper is the South Asian countries, illustrations from the experience of South East Asian countries is also drawn for comparison.