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ENTITLEMENTS, CAPABILITIES AND

INSTITUTIONS:

Problems in Their Empirical Application

G. Murugan

Centre for Development Studies

Prasanth Nagar, UlloorThiruvananthapuram - 695 011Kerala State, INDIA

E-mail: murugan@cds.ac.inComments and suggestions are most welcome

[Paper prepared for presentation in the conference on Economics for the future

under the auspices of Cambridge Journal of Economics, University of Cambridge,17-19, September 2003 ]

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Preliminary draft subject to revision Not for citation without authors permission

ENTITLEMENTS, CAPABILITIES AND INSTITUTIONS:

Problems in Their Empirical Application

G. .MURUGAN 1

Introduction:

PROFESSOR SEN in his earlier writings attempts to evolve a theoretical base for the

entitlement approach to explain the ownership of commodities by the individual. In his

subsequent monographs and papers he attempts to explain the process of achievements to the

individual that could possibly occur once his entitlements are satisfied, given the constraints

and the way in which one would like to lead the life s/he desires to have. These two sets of

writings were evolved in two contexts, the former in the analysis of poverty and famine and

the latter in the critique of utilitarian and revealed preference approaches. It was also opined

that the latter is an extension of the former (see Sugden, 1986). According to Sugden It

develops some themes that have run through much of Sens recent writings themes that

connect his work on poverty and famines with his critiques of utilitarian and revealed

preference approaches to welfare economics (sugden, 1986 p.820). In our analysis however,

an attempt is made to relate capabilities to the entitlements and endowments of the individual.

Of course all these constitute ultimately the pre-requisites to ` functionings of the individual.

In many situations entitlements to a commodity are filtered through traditional norms, which

promote on some occasions and act as a deterrent on others. Cultural and religious taboos act

as deterrents to the entitlement of the individual in many situations and could possibly lead toentitlement failures particularly those of transfer entitlements. The case of technology failures

is similar.

1 I am extremely thankful to Judith Heyer, Barbara Harriss White, Frances Stewart, Meghnad Desai, AchinChakraborthy, K.Pushpangadan, VijayaMohanan Pillai, Stephen Devereux, Ruhi Saith, Catherina RuggeriLederchi, Taimur Hyat, P K Sivanandan, Sunny Jose and M.Parameswaran for the thought provoking

discussions and help. However the usual disclaimer applies.

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Nussbaum, on the other hand, places more importance on capability ethics and its

heterogeneous nature in different cultures and traditions. But, by following an Aristotelian

path, Nussbaum in her analysis places importance on capabilities alone, no matter how they

are evolved or what could be the processes behind such an evolution. Sen on the other hand

in his writings does not specify any basic capabilities, though he also draws substantially

from the Aristotelian approach. He puts forth a general perspective to the capability

approach, tracing it back to the causes of such successes or failures, which would be more

useful to the empiricists. In one significant way, the approach of Nussbaum is an extension to

Sens approach, since she specifies some of the capabilities for a good life. One important

and focal problem with the analytical path followed by Nussbaum is that in the case of

capability failures, the underlying reasons for such failures are not revealed. Thus the

rectification of a collapse of the capabilities of a particular individual would be impossible by

following Nussbaums approach, since she does not talk about the route through which to

trace achievement/failure. In that respect one is forced to conclude that her approach is an

extension to the ideas put forth by Sen. Some of the critical aspects which are not elaborated

in the works of Sen have been clarified to some extent in the works of Nussbaum particularly

on religion, culture, political institutions, education etc. Thus several points can be adopted

from Nussbaums approach too. She sets out the capabilities of a good life for the individual,

which is broadly divided into basic capabilities and the rest. According to her once the basic

capabilities are satisfied others can easily follow.

However, the two problems with Nussbaums list as noted by Gasper (1996), are its arbitrary

nature and its empirical applicability. One could also add more ` funtionings to her list. Many

of the capabilities that Nussbaum envisages may not be amenable to proof in empirics at least

in some of the cases, leave alone the fact that it would be very difficult to trace back the

underlying reasons for such functionings and capabilities. Her Aristotelian base to the

approach is more ethical than economic. In Nussbaums list of capabilities, the economic

base of some can be traced as endowments and that of others as entitlements. Empirical

measurement, which is the focus of this paper, reveals many difficulties.

Yet another approach that has been propounded is the Basic Needs approach (streeteen et.al,

1981, Stewart, 1985) later propagated by (Doyal and Gough, 1991 and Gough, 2002). In their

discussions they talk extensively about the provisioning of basic goods to the community

rather than the individual and it is the communitys choice that determines what commodity

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is made use of, thereby leading to the ultimate outcome of capabilities and functionings. But

it seems that this is not enough. Essentially it seems that the theory of Basic needs talk about

only the entitlements of basic commodities to the individuals/community if one put it in

Sens terms. This can quite often lead to ` fuzzy entitlements in certain cases depending on

the interaction of certain inherent characteristics underlying the process of mapping. Even if

entitlements and choice exist, certain other endowments and entitlements can deter the

mapping process to the level of functionings/capabilities to the individual. Religious beliefs,

caste systems prevalent in the locality and sometimes even the natural endowments itself may

not be conducive to promote the commodity and its characteristics to a set of

capabilities/functionings 2.

In this context we rather prefer to follow Sens version of the capabilities approach, because

of its practical applicability, making some modifications to make it empirically measurable.

We also attempt to bring in some of the conceptual elaboration required to make the

theoretical foundations applicable to the real world, some of which have been dealt with by

Nussbaum too in her case without tackling the problem of tracing the root.

The outline of the paper is as follows. After the introduction, the second section deals with a

synthesis of the entitlement approach and the capability approach. The synthesised model is

discussed in the third section, followed by conclusions.

II

Empirical Applications

The synthesis in approaches

In this exercise an attempt is made to see how Sens ideas can be used to evolve an

empirically workable model and to analyse commodities and capabilities empirically. Sen in

his writings clearly conceives of commodities and capabilities being two separate things,

although he acknowledges that they are continuations in practice. The first part of this section

deals with the entitlement approach, which Sen elaborates in the context of the analysis of

2 The case of Drinking water is a good example to this. Both in rural and in Urban areas empirical evidenceshow that the effective use of the commodity of Water provided free of cost by Government or any other agencydepends on the factors described above. In Rural areas in particular perennial availability of Drinking water very

much depends on the Hydro-geological conditions prevailing.

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famines, their occurrence and persistence. Subsequently he brings in a new perspective to the

utility approach, by separating the processes that precede the happiness and well being of the

individual from the act of consumption of a particular commodity. In the empirical analysis it

is very difficult to see both commodities and capabilities in isolated contexts. Why this is so

is an important question. Analysing commodities and capabilities in isolation prevents the

researcher from finding cause and effect relations between them. The reason for failures in

the ultimate outcome might be not in the commodity as such but in the availability of the

commodity to the individual or in other words the acquisition of clear property rights over the

commodity by the individual. This generates the question, what is the reason for the

availability/unavailability? Answering this last question requires a synthesis of the two

approaches put forth by Sen in his writings. Sometimes the availability of commodities are

filtered through traditional norms that shape the conduct and way of living of the individual.

Cultural and religious taboos act as deterrents to the entitlement of the individual in many

contexts and may lead to entitlement failures particularly those of transfer entitlements.

Further, Sen does not explicitly bring into his analysis the concept of technology, which

seems to be important, both in explanation and in empirically operationalizing his theoretical

perspectives. Hence we attempt to introduce these concepts, extend his approach to make it

operational. It seems that failures in capabilities or ` functionings, can be attributed

sometimes to failures in endowments and entitlements, sometimes to fuzziness in

entitlements and sometimes even to the personal characteristics of the individual. For

example, some villagers and even some city dwellers in TamilNadu, Karnataka, Orissa and

Rajasthan are deprived of drinking water from public sources, such as taps, or hand pumps or

even public wells. The reason for such deprivation is the prevalence of strained caste

relations and caste conflicts 3, and these can be seen as the result of entitlement failures and

fuzzy entitlements.

III

The model

The usual applications of Sens approach, as observed in some empirical exercises, involves

starting with the assumption that the commodity as such is given to the individual and it is

3 See Barbara Harriss White (2002), Probe study team on Education among others. Our own field visits in

Karnataka, Orissa, and Rajasthan could make several such field observations.

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utilised for consumption. The functionings that accrue to the individual depend on his/her 4

personal characteristics and on the natural, social and economic environment etc. in which

he/she lives, Sen (1985b, 1987,1993). However this environment varies from one

circumstance to other and also from country to country and from region-to-region within a

nation itself. These characterisations of Sens capability approach do not take into account

many other problems that Sen himself has contemplated, though not explicitly pointed out, in

his writings on famine. The concepts of endowments and entitlements were developed for the

analysis of famine (Sen, 1981), but they have wide ramifications, including for the

functionings and ` capabilities of the individual, which the empiricists often do not consider

in their analyses. Here an attempt is made to incorporate endowments and entitlements in the

development of a workable model of capabilities and functionings using the conceptual realm

that Sen has provided. A schematic characterisation of the approach is provided in Chart

1below.

Chart 1 goes here

The capability of the individual depends not only on the commodity itself but also on the

endowments and entitlements that the individual has, as a member of society. One should

start from the endowment itself to have a full explanation of the capability approach .According to Dreze and Sen (1989) A persons entitlements depend both on what she owns

initially and what she can acquire through exchange. It seems the initial ownership which

Dreze and Sen talk about is the endowments of the individual and the exchang e is the

exchange entitlement mapping. Sen (1981(a)) put forth four transformation processes through

which mapping on to an individual can take place viz. trade, production, own labour and

transfer. In order to make such an exchange, the presence of some other form of endowment

is required. In the case of the transformation of personal endowments to entitlements there

are two clear paths leading to the entitlement of the individual. When we extend this idea

from an individual to society we can characterise the endowments of the individual as in

Chart 1. Sen (1981(a)) defines entitlements as the ability of people to command commodities

by legal means available to society such as production, trade, exchange, transfer or any other

mode 5, which is legally permissible and prevailing among the members of a society. Even

4 Note that he/she and his/her have been interchangeably used in the paper in the place of the individual5

Italic emphasis added.

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such ability of people to command commodities by legal means depends on the endowments

on he one hand and the position of the individual in the society on the other. Society is

assumed to have well-defined property rights and in each society there are rules governing

these rights. Social, cultural, and political institutions therefore have a role in the mapping

process of the entitlements onto the individual (Nussbaum, 2000). Sen (1981,pp45-46) further

states that In an economy with private ownership and exchange in the form of trade

(exchange with others) and production (exchange with nature) E i, (the entitlement set of

person `i in a given society) 6 can be characterised as depending on two parameters viz. the

endowment of the person (the ownership bundle) and the exchange entitlement mapping (the

function that specifies alternative commodity bundles that the person can command

respectively for each endowment bundle). For a modern world and for a general extension

of the entitlement approach to other commodities and services we need an augmented version

of the entitlement approach. Dreze and Sen (1989,p.24) state that Entitlements need not, of

course, consist only of rights of full ownership. The legal system of a country may and

typically does include provision for the right to use some commodities without owning

them outright. Here it seems that they are pointing towards transfers or public goods or

common property. Dre' ze and Sen (1 989 p.45) further argue that The widespread failure of

basic capabilities relate to a diverse set of entitlement inadequacies 7 . Even if we concentrate

specifically on the capability failures related to nourishment, the parameters of policy have to

be concerned with a much wider field of action than command over food. The domain of

entitlement analysis wishes to be correspondingly broad. The state or the co-operative

movement or other legal means could either provide entitlements. Entitlement failures could

result from mapping failures or from endowment failures.

Osmani (1995 p. 254) argues that, The endowment set is defined as the combination of all

resources legally owned by a person. In this definition resources include both tangible assets,

such as land, equipment and animals and intangibles, such as knowledge and skill, labour

power, or membership of a particular community. So it is not only the physical resources

available to the individual but also other resources that could be considered as the endowment

of the individual, including the endowment of knowledge and education. If that is the case,

6 Italic added.7

Italic added.

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one could include the political system available to him 8 to facilitate the problems of

transformation between endowments to entitlements and between commodities and

capabilities, the social and cultural factors prevailing in the locality in which he lives and also

the level of knowledge, both socialised knowledge and educational knowledge acquired by

him for the enhancement of his personal welfare, as his endowments. While Sen (1981a,

1981b, 1989) defines, endowment as a vector, Osmani (1995) defines it as a set. It seems that

the latter definition of Osmani is more meaningful for the analysis since there can have

different combinations of the endowments that are possible for an individual in varying

circumstances. Hence we also follow the definition that the endowment is a set. Sen (1981(a),

1989,1999) also classifies political freedom, cultural freedom and social freedom as

entitlements to the individual. According to (Sen, 1981(a) p.46) The exchange entitlement

mapping, or E-mapping for short, will depend on legal, political, economic and social

characteristics of the society in question and the persons position in it. It seems that Sen

consider these institutions as both endowments and entitlements too, though he does not

specify the mapping process underlying. Since these sets of institutions are innate to the

individual by virtue of his being a member of a society one could consider them as individual

endowments. That being the case, one could plausibly argue that these entitlements are

rooted in these endowments and there exists some mechanism to link them to the individual.

Sen (1999) also argues that it is through the agency role of the state that the entitlement

reaches the individual . If the state has an agency role, naturally there have to be ` parent

institutions that deliver the goods and services. Hence the state, or social institutions, or the

cultural and caste institutions, of which the individual is a member, have to be considered as

endowments to the individual. They are available to him and he has no option to choose but

to continue with the given option. Mapping these endowments identifies entitlements for the

individual. In societies where individual freedom exists for political and social participation,

people may have more ` endowments than in other societies where there exist authoritarian

constraints on freedom. Sen himself quotes examples from China, South Korea etc. (where

there exists less freedom to the individual in political and social participation) as instances of

societies with deterrents to Human Development (Dre' ze and Sen, 1996). Human

development in such countries is less than that in democracies. Thus these freedoms for the

individual are pathways rather than endowments. Sen (1999, P.162) says: - Hunger relates

8him is generic for mankind and include female of the species.

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not only to food production and agricultural expansion, but also to the functioning of the

entire economy and even more broadly the operation of political and social arrangements

that can, directly or indirectly, influence peoples ability to acquire food ( a commodity ) and to

achieve health and nourishment (capabilities) 9. Furthermore, while much can be achieved

through sensible government policy, it is important to integrate the role of the government

with the efficient functioning of other economic and social institutions varying from trade,

commerce, and the markets to active functioning of political parties, and institutions that

sustain and facilitate informed public discussion including effective public media. Thus all

the above are prerequisites for the effective transformation of personal endowments to a set

of entitlements. Hence these are the endowments prerequisite for entitlements. Even if an

individual has personal endowments in the form of labour power or land it may not be

possible to have entitlements unless an environment exists that is conducive to the

transformation of endowments to entitlements. As far as the individual is concerned, the

social relations, the political set up, the availability and access to appropriate technology etc.

are also destined to be his endowments. The individual through various ways of mapping

attains his entitlements to the commodity, wherein each of the links mentioned above plays

its role.

Now, the endowments available to the individual for a reasonable or desirable living, the

being and doing of the individual, could plausibly be categorised as fundamentally twofold: -

(a) Private endowment of the individual and

(b) Public endowments.

Private endowments can be defined as those which are exclusively available to the individual

which he could make use of, such as his own labour power, land or other economic resources

available to him. His endowment may take the form of a piece of land or a trade or factory

activity, or of knowledge or any other resource from which he could possibly make a living

in the way he desires. Public endowments are on the other hand resources available to him

through the public sphere some of which the individual can make use of at any locality and at

any point of time. Dreze and Sen (1989,p. 24) give the example of common property as

9Italics added.

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entitlements. They include parks, roads etc. If this is the case, the individual could equally

make use of such common property by making use of the political, social and cultural

systems and practices prevailing, the level of scientific knowledge disseminated and available

to him and so on. And the institutions that facilitate the individuals access to these common

property and public goods can be categorised as the ` endowments to him. P ublic

endowments could in turn be classified further into natural and man-made endowments.

Public natural endowments are the resources that the individual can plausibly enjoy and make

use of from the environment itself. For instance the physical and hydro-geological nature of

the soil, the fauna and flora that an individual can make use of, other natural resources like

water, climate and other factors, mineral resources, water available in a stream or river or

aquifer, are examples of public natural endowments. It could be possible for an individual to

convert the natural endowment e.g. water to a feasible entitlement by using his personal

endowments such as knowledge or technology. Even the identification of natural

endowments that can be potentially used requires some skill or knowledge; to exploit these

natural endowments some man-made endowments e.g. skill or knowledge is required. The

man-made endowments may have been available and transferred to the individual by his

predecessors, or by the state or the community of which he is a member. No one has

command or control over either natural or man-made endowments until he acquires it by

being a member of a society. Hence, it is the availability of all these that constitute the

feasible endowment set of the individual, which may make possible his feasible entitlements.

To make use of public or private natural endowments it is necessary to have man-made

endowments available to the individual in an appropriate form. These man-made endowments

can sometimes be public and sometimes private too, but they are mostly public in nature.

These man-made endowments are principally those creations made in the past for facilitating

the transmission of natural endowments into usable forms. These are endowed on the

individual through past experiences of his predecessors or the experiences of others

elsewhere, or through creation or manufacture. Man-made endowments are a large category.

However for the purpose of this analysis, we divide them broadly into four separate

categories, complimentary to each other: -

(i) Educational, scientific and technical endowments;

(ii) Social and cultural endowments including religion, caste etc. in which the

individual is a member;

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(iii) The political and economic institutions destined to him; and

(iv) Man made physical capital endowments.

(i) Educational, scientific and technical endowments:

These three categories are interwoven with each other yet they have distinct characteristics.

They are necessary for an individual to reach his well-being. Only in situations where such

endowments are adequate, can further mapping take place. Let us analyse them one by one

and the nature of their mapping, starting with the educational, scientific and technical

endowments.

The first set of endowments that necessitates the required mapping in the modern world is the

endowment of educational institutions. Smith (1976, BookV, chap1, part iii, art 2 p.282 10) in

his The Wealth of Nations considers Educational Institutions as endowments to the people.

According to Smith Through the greater part of Europe, accordingly endowment of schools

and colleges makes either no charge of the general revenue 11 . Thus according to Smith,

these educational institutions are endowments provided by the state. In the present day

context also one could characterise educational institutions as endowments to the individual.

Be it in the public provided by the state or the one provided by co-operative institutions or

any other organisation, the individual could make use of it to map on to him required

knowledge. When the state provides it free of cost to the individual it is a transfer mapping.

When the individual attains it through market it is trade. In the modern world it could be an

endowment made available to the individual by the state, or by private agency or by

collective action. In whatever form it is governed the effect of such institutions is in the

nature of public endowments. The mapping of these endowments can take two routes. First, it

is a prerequisite to have literacy and numeracy for any population to have a reasonable

achievement and for the individual to have functionings what ever be the form. Secondly

literacy and numeracy form the basis for further advancement of human capabilities through

scientific research and the progress needed for making a good life.

It is therefore possible to visualise at least two sets of mappings of educational endowments.

By making use of the entitlements of education, he will be able to acquire other entitlements.

For e.g. technical endowments can be acquired and transformed to ones entitlements only if

10 Originally published Cannans edition 1904.11

Italic emphasis added.

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he has the basic knowledge. The situation is not different even today as revealed from the

recent writings and empirical studies. (See Mehrotra S and Jolly R, (1997), Nussbaum

(2000), Aggarwal B, (1995) Mehrotra S (2001), Halter U (2001) Dreze and Sen (1989, 1996)

Sen, (1999), (etc. among others). Moreover, the advancement of technology and science is

ongoing and such advancement enhances the capabilities of the individual (at least in some

classes and localities). In fact Sen (1981,P.2) himself implicitly talks about scientific

experiments in his writing ..one may have some entitlements related to unclaimed objects on

the basis of discovery. He mentions this in the context of complex entitlement relations, but

does not elaborate further on the mechanism and its links with endowments or entitlements.

However in both the situations a clear dissemination of knowledge is required and the process

of dissemination act as the route for mapping. Dissemination could be through the modern

means of communication or even through the erstwhile means. It could also be possible to

carryout the mapping process through various arts forms 12 . People in general through the

mapping of disseminated knowledge generated from scientific advancement get more

entitlements and rights over the commodity, a process which otherwise would not have taken

place. The extent of mapping of entitlements would not only depend on the endowment of

education alone but also on the process of mapping of other endowments and resources

(which is dealt with in the next section). As pointed out by Sen, there seems to be a need for

more mapping routes than he himself prescribes. Dissemination and diffusion of knowledge

could possibly be distinctive processes, other than that of the entitlement transfers or

production or market opportunities. Hence education could be characterised as another

distinct mode of entitlement creation. This could possibly be the reason why Sen repeatedly

emphasises on basic education and health care in his empirical writings, which is very much

evident, even in his latest addition to economic literature 13 . Dre' ze and Sen (1995, 1996,

2002) emphasise this very strongly in their evaluation of the achievements of India vis--vis

those of other countries. According to Dre' ze and Sen, (2002) And yet all of them have been

able to achieve a radical reduction in human deprivation and insecurity. Despite major

differences in economic policy and growth performance, these countries have had much in

12 The success of family planning in Andhra Pradesh according to the second National Family Health Survey isattributed to this, despite a very high rate of illiteracy in the state.13

See Dreze and Sen 1995,1996,2002.

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common in terms of social policies, particularly those relating to the expansion of basic

education and health care 14 , and India contrasts with all of them in this fundamental respect.

However even in basic education there exist problems, which have not received much

attention from Dreze and Sen. Mehrotra and Jolly (1997) and Mehrotra (2001) brings these

facts to light although they do not make any theoretical connection between these facts and

the capabilities approach. Mehrotra is of the view that the quality of education is an important

factor in rural areas. The class differences that exist in many states and locations in India

gives way to high quality basic education to those who are affluent and poor quality to others.

This if we use Sens framework is a situation of fuzziness in the entitlements. Unterhalter

(2001) is of the view that In the capabilities approach education appears to be under-

theorised. In a brief section in the closing chapter of Development as Freedom Sen contrasts

human capital theory, long the dominant trend in analysis of education in the third world,

with human capability. But this seems to be incorrect, since Sen considers the problem of

illiteracy and education extensively in his writings, particularly emphasising the need to have

a literate population as a pre requisite to development. However neither Sen, nor Dreze and

Sen, nor Nussbaum go into the deeper aspects of education. Though they talk about the need

for literacy and girls education in particular, they do not analyse the problems and reasons

for such deprivation fully so as to trace them back to whether they are caused by endowment

failures or entitlement failures or fuzziness in entitlements. Yet another problem that could be

pointed out in the case of primary education is the lack of access to schools and school

facilities. The greater the distance to the primary school the more reluctant would parents be

to send their children to schools. If we translate this into the framework of Sen it can be

characterised as a loss of endowments . Further even if schools exist, non-availability of

sufficient teaching aids particularly in schools located in far off areas is common. A third

phenomenon according to Mehrotra that exists in the Indian rural scenario is the problem of

teacher absenteeism in primary schools. These could be classified as fuzzy entitlements . The

required endowments in terms of material inputs exist but certain institutions and practices

that dominate the locality which are expected to be agents of promotion, in connivance with

the teachers act as deterrents in the process of mapping. This creates a fuzzy entitlement

situation in many cases and entitlement loss in many others. The drop out of students from

14Italics emphasis added.

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primary school can be characterised in a similar way. Collective action could be one of the

possible remedies here 15.

Another branch of endowments emanating from education is the technology 16 required,

transforming the natural endowments into a usable form for the individual. The technology

could be primitive, or modern, or it could even be natural itself. Natural technologies also

exist through out the universe, which regenerates the pollution that occurs in a particular

locality or country or region. For example the water available in a region can be polluted by

different human interventions, but the hydro-geological conditions permit the water to

permeate through earths crust and water gets purified when it reaches the underground.

Similarly natural oxidation can purify water. Several such examples can be found around us.

The earth itself has some inbuilt regenerative capacity, with some technology behind it.

Unless the technology exists, many commodities would not exist in a usable form for the

individual, whatever the natural endowments and wherever they are. Sen (1999,pp.162-163)

argues that the entitlements to the family/individual depend not only on the endowments, the

ownership of productive resources and wealth, but also on the production possibilities and

their use 17 . He says, an important influence consists of production possibilities and their

use. This is where technology comes in: available technology determines the production

possibilities, which are influenced by available knowledge as well as the ability of the people

to marshal that knowledge and to make use of it (Sen, 1999 p.162). Thus Sen emphasises

not only technology but also the capacity of the people to understand and utilise available

technology as a prime requirement. Here elementary education and mass media have their

roles. In situations where appropriate technology is missing, then, even if natural or other

endowments exist, it may not be possible to transform those endowments into feasible

entitlements in a useful form. Hence the availability of education, science and technology

could be an endowment both to the individual and to the community. Although Sen is using

technology in the context of industry or agriculture, the concept has wider connotations. In

contexts where there is no appropriate technology it may not be possible to transform

endowments to a set of feasible entitlements. For simplicity, take the case of a farmer who

15 See Mehrotra S, (1997, 2001)16 By using technology we mean any scientific knowledge, could be of the primitive use of techniques withoutknowing the intentions of its use, or the modern form, which involves some experiment, that facilita tes thebetterment of the individual.17

Italic emphasis added.

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obtains an entitlement to paddy by cultivating land. It has to be converted to rice and cooked

in water to be useful. This requires a technology, and knowledge about the use of that

technology. If such technology - may be in a primitive form of a pounder, or peastle and

mortar or in the modern form of an electrically operated huller or sheller - is totally absent, it

may not be possible for the individual to make use of the paddy he possesses. Here

technology, that may be simple or complicated, has a role in the process of transformation of

the personal endowments into a usable form. As such, scientific knowledge accumulated

from past experience, or conventions or inventions form an integral part of the endowment

set. Now let us move on to the second i.e. the social and cultural endowments of the

individual.

(ii) Social and cultural endowments including religion, caste etc.:

Another set of man-made endowments stems from the fact that human beings, being social

animals in nature, have social, cultural, religious, gender and/or caste relationships that

influence the transformation of natural endowments into a form in which, they can be used by

individuals. These social institutions play a role in the formulation of the behaviour of the

individual. Social institutions vary from country to country and from place to place. Each

location will have its own way of formulating the rules of behaviour and social relations.

Social institutions contribute both to positive and to negative achievements, the latter by way

of deprivation, through membership of a particular society or class. According to Sen (1989

p.62) Social institutions can be seen as dealing with elements of congruence and conflict in

particular ways. Through this, Sen himself envisages the nature of the relationship between

members of the community to have congruence in certain situations and conflict in others.

They are congruent in the sense that members share among each other the resources

available. The existing institutional practices make them co-operate together in the sharing of

resources and in the transformation of these resources into the ultimate functionings of the

individual members of the society. For example a public tap/hand pump with limited water

available can be shared among all members. There can be conflicting situations too. Consider

the same example of a public tap with abundant water in a case where some caste groups are

forbidden to draw water from that and they have to resort to inferior sources or far-away

alternatives instead. This set of cultural institutions will also have its influence on the

individuals beliefs and practices. These institutions also act as agents for transformation of

knowledge for the advancement of welfare among their members. Caste and gender relations

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are each different. For example it can be seen that usually the role of women is very limited

in political life in India, but that is not the case in the state of Manipur, or Himachal Pradesh,

where women enjoy a high social status 18 . Caste relations in some cases may add to the

welfare of the members of a caste. On the other hand in other instances it excludes members

of other castes, and even contributes to an entitlement loss 19 .

Quite often an individuals entitlement and mapping relations are determined by religions and

caste relations, varying from region to region or from one location to another. Even within

one locality itself these may vary from individual to individual and from community to

community. Desai (1994, p. 194) also emphasises the role of social interactions in the

achievement of a capability. According to him, lack of such social interactions or social

relations would imply a failure to guarantee this capability. In societies where social

relations are egalitarian and have no bias, entitlements to the individual for any specific

commodity would not be hampered as the society promotes them. This could be possible

where a particular commodity is made available through collective action that is egalitarian

and in places where all the members participate. The drinking water supply in one of the

water scarce panchayats, Olavanna in Kozhikode district of Kerala is an example of this 20 .

There exists no discrimination among members of the system and almost all households are

members of the system. However this may vary under differing circumstances. In societies

where social, caste or religious relations are rigid, they act as deterrents, and mapping may

not take place as desired by the individual, leading to clear deprivation on the one hand and

fuzziness in the entitlement process on the other hand. When social relations or caste

relations or religious relations are exclusive/predatory, entitlements become fuzzy even if the

overall endowment in terms of assets is sufficient to society. Thus even where the social

security provisions are of a high order, unhealthy social relations can deter, and healthy

relations can promote, entitlements. Hence one has to consider the social relations, the caste

system, and the religious institutions etc. as endowments to the individual. The social

relations in the locality are highly influenced by the religious and caste practices and

institutions, facilitating the mapping process on to entitlements. We consider these as

endowments to the individual. In the short run, the role of the individual in making a drastic

18 See Kumar Shiv, 1995.19 See Barbara Harriss White (forthcoming)20

Panchayat is a lowest administrative unit within the state.

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change to such relationship is very limited, as attempts to change face ostracism 21 . However

social relations can be changed, especially when the endowments of education are widely and

popularly transformed and assimilated within a community. The process of change in social

relations generally takes place over a period of time and also the pace at which other

transformations in the society take place. This is more or less akin to the situation pointed out

by Sen (1981(a), P50) peoples consumption may fall below their entitlements for a

variety of reasons, such as ignorance, fixed food habits, or apathy. When education lights

the mental lamp, people may think of some public action to invite changes in caste relations

and practices or the individual himself may change his practice when changing his place of

domicile. It is the collective public action against certain practices that alone invites change.

This is a point put well by Smith (1976) in his TheWealth of Nations. According to Smith

(1976) .in small religious sects morals are regular and orderly and even disagreeably

rigorous and unsocial . He dare not do anything, which would disgrace or discredit him in

it , and he is obliged to a very strict observation of that species of morals, whether liberal or

austere, which the general consent of the society prescribes to persons of his rank and

fortune. A man of low condition on the contrary is far from being a distinguished member of

any great society. While he remains in a country village his conduct may be attended to and

he may be obliged to attend to it himself. But as soon as he comes into a great city, he is

sunk in obscurity and darkness. His conduct is observed and attended to by nobody, and he is

therefore very likely to neglect it himself, and to abandon himself to every sort of low

profligacy and vice 22 . (Book V, Chapter 1, part III, Art III P.317) Thus either through a

change in the location as argued by Smith or through a change in the endowments and

entitlements of education, a change in caste and social relations and it is the mappings

associated with these is possible. Certain religious reform may also produce significant

changes in caste relations and thereby the mapping process. In the short run, however one has

to accept the sanctioned relations prevailing in the society.

Another institution that forms a part of the endowment system is the family or the

household of which an individual is a member, which in effect, and according to Sen (1989,

21 There can be very few exceptions to it. Rreligious reformers have to put in a lot of effort for such changes tobe made in the relationships. On the one hand it would be very difficult to effect changes from the already setpattern and on the other these changes take place gradually. There could also have opposition from manycorners. It would be very difficult to withstand these opposition and make them understand the need for change.22

Italic emphasis added.

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1999), is a subset of ` social relations. We treat them as a subset of social relations for two

reasons;

(1) Social relations are transactions between families and

(2) Intra - household relations in a particular locality are also influenced substantially by

the relationship between households and families in society.

Although one cannot strictly consider intra-household relations in the same way as the

endowment entitlement process, relations within households can also significantly influence

the entitlements of individuals. Each member of the household has differing allocating status

and roles in the mapping of intra household social relations, which contribute to the

entitlements / extended entitlements of family members. According to Sen (1989 p.62)

Family relations similarly involve a combination of congruence and conflict. Obvious

benefits accrue to all parties as a result of family arrangements, but the nature of division of

work and goods determines specific distribution of advantages and particular patterns of

inequality. Sen (Ireine Tinker (ed.) 1990 pp. 135-136), Sen (1989,1990, 1999) and Dre' ze

and Sen (1989) introduce three concepts that are plausible determinants of extended

entitlements in the family. They are first, the break-down, well-being position of women,

second, the perceived interest response and third, the perceived contribution response.

Women warrant extended entitlements to certain commodities, because of their physical and

biological requirements, particularly in tropical climatic regions. 23 Intra-household relations

in such regions generally confirm such extended entitlements, especially to young girls and

adult women. This happens not because of the bargaining processes that Sen describes, but

because of the physical and biological characteristics and specificities, as well as the cultural

and other practices and habits of adult girls and women. For example females in general,

particularly in tropical regions, require more water and more privacy than men in order to

ensure their personal hygiene 24 . If natural or man-made endowments are available, intra-

household relations ensure a mapping, which confers extensions in entitlements to them. For

example women and adult girls in the coastal regions of Kerala suffer greatly because the

household is unable to construct latrines (as appropriate technology for waterlogged regions

is unavailable or even if available in accessible to the community considering the prohibitive

23 An empirical elaboration of this is attempted later.24 See Murugan. G (1992) The adult equivalent scale for water worked out on the basis of field survey data

show a higher quantity requirement among adult females, which is exactly contrary to the Amsterdam scale.

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cost). This is a matter of lack of endowments to the household, with the result that they lack

both privacy and personal hygiene. Absence of a latrine system in the household particularly

where the density of housing is quite high, forces women especially young women and

grownup children to postpone defecation till sunset. As a result even if food is available quite

often they have to undergo involuntary starvation. Wherever latrines are available, men in

general will not use them and set them apart for the use of women and children in the

household, for fear that the pit will get filled or choked because of water logging 25 . This

reasoning can be extended not only to the allocation of latrine facility, but to that of other

commodities which are necessary for a healthy human existence, particularly of women.

Normative extensions in entitlements for women because of cultural and religious

specificities, physical and biological requirements and location or region all need recognition.

Although one clearly cannot say that as far as the individual is concerned this is an extension

to entitlements in the strict sense of the term in which Sen characterises his theory of

extended entitlements, one could still visualise it as an extension due to the mapping process

produced by intra-household relations.

All household members may not require all commodities always and the constituents of the

commodity basket will differ between individuals. In the real world situation, when all

commodities are considered each is required by individual household members in varying

quantities.

According to Sen (1990, p.145) The extension of entitlement analysis to divisions within the

family brings in notions of legitimacy that go well beyond the system of state enforced laws

on which property regulations, market transactions, wage employment, and the like operate

and on which the standard entitlement analysis depends. But these notions of legitimacy have

a firm social basis and may be hard to displace The idea of entitlement in the extended

form can be influenced by a shared sense of legitimacy and adapted perceptions that relate to

it. This seems to be the case for womens opportunity to get gainful work outside the

home. However in respect of certain commodities, such extensions in entitlements are based

on the mere fact of their biological and physical requirements, which are legitimately

approved by other members within the family. Use of latrine and water are examples,

25 See Pushpangadan K and Murugan G, 2001, Report on the Social Cost of Neglecting Sanitation in the

Coastal Regions, submitted to the Intermediate Technology Development Group, London.

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particularly in the tropical climatic regions. Hence, even without the bargaining process itself,

an extension in entitlements would take place, of a different nature from the extended

entitlements, developed by Sen. A deprivation in such entitlements might also affect women

more than men. Unlike the co-operative conflict model a non-entitlement to the commodity

also affects womens well-being more severely than mens. The case of latrines in one of the

coastal villages narrated above is a clear example. 26 Now let us move on to the last i.e. the

political and economic institutions.

(iii) Political and economic institutions:

Sen characterises the role of the state and of political and economic institutions, through their

agency. However as far as the individual is concerned, he is destined to be in a system in

which he has been socialised. Hence the political system could be characterised as an

endowment itself as far as the individual is concerned. As an individual s/he cannot effect

changes in it even if s/he wants to. Political systems, - democracy, socialism, capitalism,

communism etc. map onto the individual through good governance, by ensuring rules,

regulations and protection of rights, assuring justice etc. so as to enable the mapping of

personal endowments or other endowments on to feasible entitlements.

One cannot deny the significance of the political or economic institutions that exist in any

part of the world. Both central and local institutions have roles either separately or jointly to

determine the achievements of the individual with respect to capabilities and functionings .

These institutions, given at any one point in time as endowments to the individual, facilitate

individuals legitimate rights (through for example the agency role of the state) and through

these rights, the achievement of the entitlements takes place, (Sen 1984 p.311).

Sen (1981,1984,p.454) argues that .the exchange entitlement mapping or E-mapping for

short, will in general, depend on the legal, political, economic and social characteristics of the

society in question and the person i s position in it. The quote gives us the clue that it is not

only the personal endowments and natural endowments that are important in the

transformation involved in E mapping but also the social structure in which the individual is

26 During our field investigations in the region a discussion with some of the Medical Practitioners and with theGynaecologist in the neighbouring Primary Health Centre reveals that the frequency and number of urinary tract

infections are much high among women and even to girls, since they lack privacy and latrine facility.

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placed, the political and economic circumstances available to him etc. The classification we

suggest in this analysis appears in consonance with the theoretical framework put forward by

Sen in these writings. Nussbaum (1993) in her writings says, I discuss an Aristotelian

conception of the proper function of government, according to which its task is to make

available to each and every member of the community the basic necessary conditions of the

capability to choose and live a fully good human life, with respect to each of the major

human functions included in that fully good life. According to Nussbaum, for the

achievement of the functionings, a clear understanding of what constitute the functionings is

necessary. But this may not be sufficient . What one needs to know are the processes leading

to the achievement of the functionings and the governments role in those processes. Both

Sen and Nussbaum seem not to clearly demarcate these in their writings.

Smith himself points to this in his The Wealth of Nations and gives clues: - If a nation

could not prosper without the enjoyment of perfect liberty and perfect justice, there is not in

the world a nation which could ever have prospered. In the political body, however, the

wisdom of nature has fortunately made ample provision for remedying many of the bad

effects of the folly and injustice of man, in the same manner as it has done in the natural

body, for remedying those of his sloth and intemperance. (1976, Book IV, chap ix p.195).

This quote explains the role of the state in providing liberty and justice. Even if many other

endowments are available, good governance and protection of justice, the rights and legal

systems are necessary to enhance the process of entitlement. These all vary from society to

society, depending upon the forms of government. In the absence of such rights the

individuals capability would be constrained perhaps to the point where a right cannot be

turned into an entitlement.

Quite often the exercise of one persons rights conflict with the endowments of someone else.

For example the right to have access to a commodity could be constrained by caste and

religious institutions. This does not mean that he has no right but that the conflict between

the rights of one individual and those of others could lead to entitlement deprivation, though

the individual is otherwise endowed with the right to have the commodity. In effect such

conflicts are violations of rights, but the state often fails to enforce these rights, which in turn

distort the mapping process.

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As far as the state is concerned, it administers not only the protection of rights and justice to

the individual but also the provisions of social security. According to Sen (1981(a), p.6),

These social security provisions are essentially supplementation of the process of market

exchange and production and the two types of opportunities together determine a persons

exchange entitlement in a private ownership market economy with social security

provisions. He continues to argue (1981(a), p.6) that The exchange entitlements depend not

merely on market exchange and production but also on those exchanges if any that the state

provides as part of the social security program. But, along with social security programmes

and the administration of justice, the distribution of such social security programmes is also

important in the mapping of entitlements on to the individual. If this distribution, which

largely depends on good governance, is iniquitous then certain individuals may fail to attain

the fruits of such social security measures. In that case the state machinery would fail in the

mapping process resulting in either an entitlement loss or fuzziness in entitlements .

Nussbaum, (1995) also emphasises the need for well-specified property rights for the

achievement of capabilities, though she does not describe the path. According to Nussbaum

(1995 p. 85) .in accordance with its commitment to the distinction between ends and

means, it understands ` property rights as instrumental to other human capabilities, and

therefore to a certain extent, as up for negotiation in general social planning. Possibly it is

through the entitlement process that property rights are ensured in the real world. The state,

itself fails otherwise in that context as even Smith emphasised in his The Wealth of Nations.

The protection of property commonly available to the community, through which the

individual benefits, is also important in the mapping process. Over-exploitation by one group

of individuals would also make others deprived. It is the duty of the state to police and

regulate in order to ensure the right and survival of the individual. According to Smith (1976)

The second duty of the sovereign, that of protecting, as far as possible every member of the

society from the injustice or oppression of every other member of it 27 , or the duty of

establishing an exact administration of justice requires too very different degrees of expense

in the different periods of society. (Book V, Chap 1, part ii, pp231). All together one could

say that good governance (i.e. protection of rights, property, regulation of rules, legal systems

etc.) is crucial to the mapping of entitlements.

27Italic emphasis added.

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According to Sen (1999, p. 148) There are three different considerations that take us in the

direction of a general pre-eminence of basic political and liberal rights:

1) their direct importance in human living associated with basic capabilities (including

that of political and social participation);

2) their instrumental role in enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and

supporting their claims to political attention (including the claims of economic needs);

3) their constructive role in the conceptualisation of needs (including the

understanding of economic needs in a social context).

The satisfaction of all of the above contribute to good governance, and thereby to the

achievement of entitlements and ultimately also capabilities, in combination with the other

processes we have discussed.

Iv Man made physical capital endowments

In the real world situation it is the duty of a welfare state to provide some physical capital to

its citizens. Generally the state builds such capital for the welfare of its citizens where it is

very difficult for individual citizens to make. At the same time these physical capital are

primary requisites for an individual to achieve his capabilities and functionings. This physical

capital built, form the endowments to the individual, usually as public goods. The individual

attains his entitlement from this physical capital either through transfer or trade.

Now what about the individual? The individual himself has his own personal endowments, as

explained by Sen (1981(a), 1989). These include the labour power he owns or the ownership

of his private assets. The latter could be in the form of conventional assets like that of land,

which he can cultivate or in the ` modern form of a factory or any other business

establishment. In whichever form, he would be able to exercise his entitlements to exchange

and to earn from it income, which in its turn can be exchanged for other commodities.

Here arises another question: are these endowments - natural or man-made, public or private -

sufficient to enable the individual to have command over the commodities he requires? There

are two possibilities: sufficient or insufficient. If sufficient, the individual can proceed

further. If insufficient the individual is incapable of proceeding further to reach the ultimate

aim of mapping the endowments on to capabilities and functionings, and there can be a

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collapse of endowments themselves. 28 In the latter case, suitable alterations and adjustments

may be possible so as to re-allocate resources in such a way that the individual can use them

appropriately. Such changes could be made through alternative institutional mechanisms,

both political and social, or through new forms of technology. Although we explained the

mapping process at length earlier, a summary of it reveals the importance of the

transformation of these endowments into feasible entitlements for the individual. This is

discussed below.

Entitlement mapping: Transformation to feasible entitlements:

Dre' ze and Sen (1989, p. 10) asserted, A persons entitlements depend both on what she

owns initially, and what she can acquire through exchange. It seems the initial ownership

which Dreze and Sen talk about is the endowments of the individual and the exchang e is the

exchange entitlement mapping. Sen (1981(a)) put forth four transformation processes through

which mapping on to an individual can take place viz. trade, production, own labour and

transfer. This suggests that they are talking about the endowments of the individual and not

the endowments, which are public, although that too is important for the individuals welfare.

If one is thinking of the endowments specific to the individual alone, then one has to include

the natural endowments and the societal endowments to which the individual may gain

access: for example the technology available to extract and use natural endowments; or the

social relations s/he has with other members of society; or the political or other institutions in

which s/he is a part. All these relations, in one form or another influence the formation of

entitlements. It is the transformation of natural and manmade endowments and the personal

endowments of the individual into a commodity set that produces the feasible set of

individual entitlements. Sen (1981(a)) and Dre' ze and Sen (1989) define entitlements as the

set of alternative bundles of commodities over which a person can establish command. Sen

broadly classifies these entitlements into four, although he admits that there can be other

forms as well. Sens four are trade-based entitlements, production based entitlements, own

labour entitlements, and inheritance or transfer entitlements (Sen, 1981(a), P.2). Own labour

has to be exchanged with some commodity of some form or wages to reach a trade-based

entitlement. Hence it is not really very different from a trade based entitlement proper.

According to Osmani (1999,p. 255) the entitlement set is defined as the set of all possible

28 Collapse of the endowment of knowledge and technology are more forcefully described in the empirical

analysis, which follows later.

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combinations of goods and services that a person can legally obtain by using the resources of

her endowment set. There exist basically three forms of resource transformation: Production

or exchange or transfer which are carried out in a legally enforced manner. The entitlement

mapping or E mapping is the relationship between the endowments on the one hand and the

entitlement set on the other, through the transformation process of production or exchange or

transfer. Osmani (1999,p. 255) is of the opinion that Roughly speaking it shows the rates at

which the resources of the endowment set can be converted into goods and services included

in the entitlement set Thus E mapping would in general have three broad components: a

production component containing various input output ratios, (or more generally production

functions) an exchange component made up of the rates of exchange involved in trading and

a transfer component. Sen (1981(a), pp. 46-47) defines exchange entitlement mapping as the

function that specifies the set of alternative commodity bundles that the person can command

respectively for each endowment bundle, depending on the legal, political, economic and

social characteristics of the society in which the person is, including the social security

provision. A person can be plunged into a situation of entitlement failure if there occurs an

endowment collapse or an unfavourable shift in the entitlement mapping. According to

Hussain (1992) Entitlement is a general term covering forces of relations determining the

bundle of commodities that an individual or a family can legitimately acquire within a

particular socio-economic setting. The sources of entitlement may be various: market

organisations, relative prices, ownership, gender differentiation, kinship relations, and public

policy. The value of the notion of entitlement which is legal in origin lies in extending the

range of factors that should be taken into account . The explanation Hussain (1992)

provides seems to extend to many more commodities than food alone. He also emphasises the

role of institutional settings, gender etc. as sources of entitlement, which means he is pointing

to these as endowments itself. However in actual practice it seems that it is the intersection of

many of the variables put forward by Hussain that actually transform the endowment set to

entitlements. Sen (1981(a), P.174 Appx. B) himself is of the opinion that there is little point

in trying to develop a general theory of exchange entitlement determination. It is true that it

will vary according to circumstance. However it is tempting to try to produce a general

framework. The general framework is even necessary if one wants to analyse a set of

commodities. Depending upon the nature of the commodities under investigation and the type

and use of commodity by the individual, endowments and entitlement relations are involved.

Each endowment set has a mapping on to entitlements. We can consider the mapping process

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in our model 29. Though Sen (1984) does mention the entitlements of rights, rules, justice etc.

he does not further elaborate on what constitutes the mapping process in these cases. We

attempt to elaborate further and to bring them in so that the relations can be established.

In our model we consider the following mapping processes. We take up the components as

put forward by Sen himself and follow his definitions (1981(a)).

(i) Market/exchange (M i j

)

(ii) Production (P i j

)

(iii) Transfer (T i j

)

In addition to these we also introduce some further mapping functions. Although Sen

discusses these extensively, explicitly in certain contexts and implicitly in others, we find that

some have to be brought in more directly for our empirical analysis: dissemination, diffusion;

social relations, intra household relations and governance entitlements. We elaborate on these

below.

(iv) Dissemination/diffusion (D i j )

Dissemination is the product of education, formal or informal, whatever be the source from

which the individual acquires it. Diffusion requires a minimum level of capacity to

understand which the individual can gain from the education s/he obtains. Diffusion of

technology can yield immense results. It is also a necessity in many situations to have a

bundle of technologies, so that natural endowments can be are transformed into a useful form.

Basic knowledge becomes a prerequisite for the use or operation of common materials in the

household. Even knowledge will vary from individual to individual.

(v) Entitlements of social relations (S i j)

Religious, caste, class and other institutions also shape the mapping process of the

individual. This is generalised through the social relations (S i j) of the individual in society.

Since these have specific and local roles in our scheme, we treat them separately.

(vi) Intra household relations (H i j)

29 Many of the mapping processes have been explained earlier at length along with endowment itself. Hence

only a brief summary of it is presented here.

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As Sen himself pointed out, the relationships between members of the household, in the

sharing of resources, determines the mapping process on to individuals. So we include the

intra-household allocation (H i j) as one of the mappings 30 .

(vii) Entitlements through Governance (G i j)

Finally the role of the state through its modes of governance and through public policy

decisions, determines entitlements. We consider this under the heading Governance (G i j ) .

Total entitlements; fuzziness in entitlements; and extensions in individuals entitlements may

be decided according to the intersection of these sets of mapping processes. The intersection

will be complicated. Hence the entitlement (E i j) of the individual ` i for the ` jth commodity

would be represented by the following;

E i j = ( Mi j P i j T i j D i j S i j H i j G i j ) (1)

It seems that there can also be different combinations of the above transformation processes

varying according to circumstances in which the transformation takes place and the nature of

the commodity 31 . Mapping processes will also depend on the nature of the endowments

available to the individual such as that of the political system in which he is a member, the

social and cultural prescriptions and surroundings in which he lives. These different mapping

processes evolve based on the type of interaction that has taken place to develop the nature of

the entitlement and the commodity in question. For example, in the case of drinking water

there is an intersection between technology, the market, social relations and intra household

relations, which determines for a given person a right over the commodity. All the forms of

mapping do not have to intersect, but if the intersection of some of these forms produces the

entitlement with the probability equalling unity then the individual can attain full

entitlement. Hence the equation can be written as follows.

P ( E i j ) = P ( M i j P i j T i j D i j S i j H i j G i j ) = 1.(2)

30 This is under the assumption that the commodities used within the household are common for all. But whenthe commodities used between men and women even within the same household differ it seems that theybecome different set of commodities and the mapping will be different In such circumstances inter personalcomparison between individuals within the family becomes futile as the commodity sets are different and thereby the extended entitlement problem does not arise.31 Sen (1981a,1981b,1989) Sen and Osmani (1999, 1990) discuss the is sue in relation to food. E.g. water is oneof the constituents of food in general, however it has several other non-food uses as well. More over we take

other commodities also into account in our analysis.

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It is quite possible that failure in one of the mappings can be compensated for by other set of

mappings in the equation. Then the individual can have a full entitlement without affecting

the entitlement set 32. But there could also be situations of fuzziness in the entitlements of the

individual even though legally and according to the norms the individual is entitled to the

commodity. This we explain below.

Fuzziness and related issues

Sen (1981(a), pp. 48-49) puts forward the concept of fuzziness in entitlements as one of the

limitations of the entitlement approach. According to Sen there can be ambiguities in the

specification of entitlements .in pre-capitalist formations there can be a good deal of

vagueness on property rights and related matters. In many cases the appropriate

characterisation of entitlements may pose problems and in some cases it may well be best

characterised in the form of fuzzy sets and related structures taking precise note of the

vagueness involved 33 . Devereux (1996, 2000, 2001) in his writings opines that Sen ignored

possibilities for weaker claims over resources, such as control and access and he failed to

consider contexts where property rights are exercised institutionally rather than individually

Devereux talks about fuzziness both with respect to the unit of analysis and fuzziness with

respect to property rights . By the former he means the use of individual, family, society etc.

as alternate units of analysis. We also follow this approach but make specific extensions. In

our analysis, fuzziness of the following types can broadly occur: -

(a) Fuzziness with respect to the unit of analysis

(b) Fuzziness with respect to diffusion/ lack of appropriate technology

(c) Fuzziness emanating from the social relations and the social setting in which the

individual is placed.

(d) Fuzziness in respect of governance 34 .

(a) Fuzziness with respect to the unit of analysis

32 An example to this could be found in the empirical analysis.33 Italics, emphasis added.34

(b),(c) and (d) could be accounted as fuzziness in property rights also.

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The literature provides us with conflicting views about fuzziness with respect to the unit of

analysis. Osmani (1995,p.254) support the views and methodology of Sen who uses

households, groups or classes, as representatives of individuals. This can be fuzzy because

the nature and characteristics of one individual need not be akin to that of another. Even

within the household, the characteristics of one individual would differ from that of another

in many ways. However if the commodity under analysis is common to the household as a

whole it may not be problematic at all. For example consider the physical environment of the

individual; the same environment is common for all household members. In such situations it

may not be fuzzy to use the household as the unit of analysis instead of the individual.

Devereux (1996,2000, 2001) is of the view that when the unit of analysis is interchanged the

reality of diversity of individuals in the group is often ` sidestepped . For our analysis the

inter-changeability of individuals, households, and extended family may not create fuzziness

when functioning achievements are common: for example environmental hygiene. Where-as

in the case of certain other functionings individuals alone can be used as the unit of

measurement: for example the health status. Thus fuzziness in the unit of analysis depends on

the functioning concerned what is that one is analysing. There are many circumstances in

which ` fuzziness matters. When we move to consider ` community, ` ethnic group and ` the

state there is usually diversity in their composition and hence fuzziness. Our concern with

respect to fuzziness however is more far -reaching than the analytical unit.

(b) Fuzziness with respect to diffusion/or lack of technology

Fuzziness in mapping and entitlements may occur in two ways. Firstly individuals are diverse

in nature and mental make up. Intellectual capacities differ from person to person and jointly

from household to household (see Sen, 1981(a), p.50). Even if a particular technology were

made available, a uniform application of it would not necessarily take place, thereby creating

fuzziness by the varied mode of application. Other forms of endowments and entitlements

may affect application. For example - when a particular rural technology is introduced to a

community, the profound spread and use of such technology depends on the rate of diffusion

of it among community members. The rate of diffusion and dissemination is substantially

accelerated if the level of understanding of the community to which it is introduced is

conducive, and the other social and political institutions prevailing are good enough to

transform the technology endowment to a feasible entitlement. The rate of diffusion and

dissemination also depends on the methodologies adopted by the providers in propagating the

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technology and its use. The case of latrine programs is a good example of this. Secondly

when a bundle of technology is provided, the providers of it assume that it is of relevance and

use to the community and individuals, which is not always correct 35 . Technology entitlement

failures are common when technology from one set of factor endowments is imposed on a

different set. Imparting of technology acceptable to one community in one country may not

be acceptable in another, as it may not be able to cope with the practices already prevailing.

(c) Fuzziness from social relations

As regards fuzziness with respect to social relations, castes and religious prejudices act as

promoters in certain contexts and detractors in certain others. These institutions may

represent the interests of particular sects or groups. In the process of protecting the interests

of one group, the legitimate rights of many others may be deprived, thereby creating a fuzzy

situation in the apparent rights of the deprived.

Class differences, caste divisions and the resultant competition for survival could also cause

fuzziness. Rivalry among different caste groups prohibits one group from enjoying the rights

that others normally enjoy, even if they are to common property and are expected to be

uniformly applicable to all. Similar scenarios exist in the case of religious groups, ethnic

groups etc.

(d) Fuzziness from Governance

Now comes fuzziness with respect to Governance. The rulers of the state, in most

circumstances, especially in democracies, hold a view that equality and justice is to be

maintained 36 . However, bureaucratic institutions, corrupt practices and other impediments, in

making available those goods may create fuzziness in the entitlement of the community and

individuals. Though the individual is supposed to have clear rights over the good, this right

may not be established in fact because of the failure in governance. When there are such

failures, and fuzziness, alternative models of institutions of governance can also emerge,

through public collective action. Fuzziness could also emanate from conflicting policies. For

35 Our own field experience shows that this is the case. For details see Pushpangadan K and Murugan G, 2001,Report on the Social cost of neglecting Sanitation in Coastal Regions, Report submitted to the IntermediateTechnology Development Group, London.36 This largely varies depending upon the system of governance and the freedom of the press as explained in

Dreze and Sen, (1989, 1995, 2002) and Sen (1999).

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example in a federal democratic system, the central governments policies need not go hand

in hand with that of the states or even that of local bodies. Conflicting views and approaches

of political parties within democracy can also create fuzziness.

Yet another possibility for fuzziness in entitlements is through over-exploitation of natural

resources. In many developing countries, pressures of population and the unchecked use of

resources by industries in the process of development and economic growth lead to a

situation in which pollution reaches a stage well beyond the regenerative capacity of the

environment, and acts as a deterrent to the entitlements of the individual. For example the

Ganga Action Plan of the Government of India, an effort to purify water in river Ganga was

evolved because of the high rates of pollutants discharged into the river by industries, and

untreated sewers of cities on the bank of the river. This forced the residents in the

embankments downstream to travel to far off regions for fetching drinking water. The river

source of water to Peking city was polluted heavily by industries; with the result the water

authorities have to go sixteen kilometres upstream to tap sources of water 37 . Agricultural

activities downstream of Peking were badly affected too. People downstream suffered a lot in

search for alternative uncontaminated sources for their day-to-day purposes. Health hazards

from using alternate inferior sources is yet another outcome. Above all the costs of treatment

from water related morbidity were exceptionally high. Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu

state in India and certain regions of Kerala face problems of water pollution even now

because of coir retting. The tanneries of Tamilnadu cause pollution to ground water, the main

source of drinking water in the region. Dyeing activities of handloom textiles in

Kancheepuram district of Tamilnadu is another example of pollution of ground water.

Arsenic pollution of ground water through depletion and oxidisation is reported extensively

in the districts of 24 Parganas, Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal 38 .

Many examples of pollution left unchecked, which affect the entitlements of the individual,

can be found. Our field investigations provide sufficient examples of such phenomena 39 .

37 See World Bank, 1993.38 See Chakraborthi, 1996 for a detailed account.39 See Pushpangadan and Murugan, (2001) Social Cost of Neglecting Sanitation in Coastal Regions, Report

submitted to the Intermediate Technology Development Group, London.

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Fuzzy entitlements can be characterised as follows in equation 2. When the probabilistic

intersection of each set of mappings for the individual or households falls to less than 1, there

may be fuzziness in entitlements.

P ( E i j ) = P ( M i j P i j T i j D i j S i j H i j G i j ) < 1.(3)

There could possibly be institutional control of a resource but access to it may not be

equitable. The classic tail ender problem is a clear example of a fuzzy situation in irrigation,

even though the farmers concerned have every right over the canal water. For example, the

Pampa irrigation project is expected to provide irrigation water to farmers. It is completely

managed by the Government. During summer, farmers face two problems. Firstly, the

regulation of canal water during this season itself is irregular, creating fuzziness in the

entitlements. Secondly even if water is released to the cultivators, those who possess land at

the tail end of the canal do not get an adequate or regular quantity. This also causes

` fuzziness due to insti tutional failure in controlling operations. If water management could

have involved collective action, the members themselves could have resolved this problem.

The case of drinking water is another example. Consider a mini-water supply system. All

residents in an area are expected to get water in adequate quantities. But, during summer,

people get water only once in three days. At other times, those who reside in the

neighbourhood of a pumping station get an adequate quantity, whereas others far off do not,

because of lack of water availability. In these cases it is institutional control and its

inefficiency that generates the fuzziness.

Extended entitlements: - Now let us move on to extended entitlements. Sen (1989,

1990,1999), and Dre' ze and Sen (1989) d efine extended entitlements as the concept of

entitlements extended to include the results of more informal types of rights sanctioned by

accepted notions of legitimacy. This notion is particularly relevant in analysing intra-family

divisions, but it has other uses in social analysis as well (1989, p.11)

Osmani (1999) is of the view that in the case of both endowment and E mapping, the

definitions allow for the effect of exogenous factors, that is, it is granted that either of them

may change without any prior change in any of the other two categories; but the same is not

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true of entitlement. Since applying E mapping on the endowment derives the entitlement set,

it is only through change in either endowment or E mapping that any change in entitlement

can occur. This seems to be applicable in the case of not only food items but other

consumables also. This drives one to the conclusion that one can identify eight distinct

sources of entitlement failure; endowment loss, production failure, exchange failure, transfer

failure, technology failure, failure in social relations, failure of governance and failure as a

result of intra household relations.

There could possib