The name is absent



the measure of capabilities: «Some capabilities are harder to measure than others and attempts to
putting them on a “metric” may sometimes hide more than they reveal» (Sen, 1999: 81).
Furthermore, the chosen vector of functionings could be seen as an elementary valuation of the
capability set, which depending on the appropriate choice of elements of the vector (i.e.
assuming a maximizing behavior), can in turn be considered as the maximally valued element8.

In our simplified model, well-being is a function of the achieved functionings; the
functionings are converted commodities, where the conversion factors arise from personal and
social characteristics. More specifically, in the three-functionings example of Figure 2 a number
of commodities (1,....n) determine each achieved functioning (A, B, C), via the conversion
factors which take account of personal and social diversities.

We think that this schematic representation is quite consistent with Sen’s view of well-being
operationalization: «We use incomes and commodities as the material basis of our well-being.
But what use we can respectively make of a given bundle of commodities, or more generally of
a given level of income, depends crucially on a number of contingent circumstances, both
personal and social» (Sen, 1999: 70). These different contingent circumstances «make opulence
..a limited guide to welfare and the quality of life» (Sen, 1999: 71).

Since we stress the importance of personal and social characteristics as the ultimate divide
between a multidimensional assessment of well-being and the one based on Sen’s capability
approach, we call our tentative operationalization of the latter the “Conversion Factors Model”
(CFM).

Commodities



Figure 2 - The capability approach: a schematic operationalization via the “Conversion
Factors Model”

Commodities

1,...n

Personal and social

Personal and social
conversion factors

conversion factors Achieved

functioning C


8 In this meaning the value of the capability set is that of a single element of the set, the maximally valued one. But
this view holds if freedom is considered only in its instrumental meaning, and not in its substantive, positive
meaning. In this latter case we inevitably should have pushed our analysis to the capability set, with all the
problems deriving from unobservabilty and from increase of information required.

5



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