Oliver Cann, Director, Media Relations, Tel.: +41 79 799 3405; Email: Oliver.Cann@weforum.org
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Geneva, Switzerland, 7 September 2015 – Amid increasing concerns about rising income inequality and its negative economic and social impact, the World Economic Forum, the international institution for public-private cooperation, today publishes a new contribution to the discussion. In its first edition, The Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2015 provides a new framework for stimulating growth that translates into broad-based improvements in living standards, touching all citizens.
Around the world, no bigger policy challenge preoccupies political leaders than expanding social participation in the process and benefits of economic growth. The report, which covers 112 economies, seeks to improve our understanding of how countries can use a diverse spectrum of policy incentives and institutional mechanisms to make economic growth more socially inclusive without dampening incentives to work, save and invest.
The new benchmarking framework introduces over 140 quantitative indicators across seven pillars and 15 sub-pillars:
The online report includes comparative country profiles for 112 countries. These are like diagnostic scans of each country’s institutional enabling environment as it relates to social inclusion. Countries are able to benchmark their efforts to promote social inclusion relative to peers in each area via a traffic-light scheme. To enable more meaningful comparisons, countries are divided into four groups: advanced; upper-middle income; lower-middle income; and lower-income.
Rick Samans, Member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum, said: “By giving policy-makers, business leaders and other stakeholders a clearer sense of the extent to which their country is exploiting the available policy space and best practices in relation to its peers, the report aims to make discussions about inequality less about aspiration and more about concrete action.”
Overall, six main findings emerge from the analysis:
“The most appropriate approach to be taken by countries will depend on their specific circumstances. However, our analysis shows that all countries have room for improvement for placing their economies on a more inclusive growth path,” said Jennifer Blanke, Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum.
Global Challenge Initiative on Economic Growth and Social Inclusion
This report is a key contribution to the World Economic Forum’s Global Challenge Initiative on Economic Growth and Social Inclusion. The initiative brings together global leaders and decision-makers in addressing this issue through global and regional dialogues as well as projects aimed at making progress in specific areas.
Notes to Editors
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