What Do You Mean?: Conceptual Clarity in Social Policy (Inter-American Development Bank)

Efficiency and equity are priorities in the social policies of both industrial and developing countries. However, policy studies use efficiency and equity objectives in a general way, while in practice they may refer to specific concepts. What Do You Mean? looks at the political dimension of the economic problem -- different value judgments lead to different concepts of efficiency and equity -- and shows how conceptual clarity can improve social services delivery. The design of social policies depends on the interpretation -- rarely explicit -- of policymakers.