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Toward a Constructive Theory for Anti‐poverty Policy
Author(s) -
Jones Brian J.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1984.tb02251.x
Subject(s) - poverty , constructive , situationism , positive economics , ideal (ethics) , sociology , economics , empirical research , neoclassical economics , economic growth , social psychology , epistemology , psychology , political science , law , process (computing) , computer science , operating system , philosophy
A bstract . What the “ideal” anti‐poverty policy is cannot be answered without a validated theory of income deprivation. Such a theory is not yet available from economics. And sociology cannot yet provide a verified theory of why particular people are poor. The cultural and situationist hypotheses offer no adequate explanation of poverty and hence billions spent on policies based on them produced no results. Network analysis extends the institutionalist hypothesis but remains to be validated. However, empirical studies strongly suggest (though they do not prove) that structural changes in educational or employment opportunity are more realistic than compensatory or general aid programs.