In a new publication, Qin Gao, Professor and Director of the Columbia China Center for Social Policy, joins a team of international interdisciplinary scholars to examine the impacts of COVID-19 and understand policy challenges using a capability framework.
The article, titled “COVID-19 as a Capability Crisis: Using the Capability Framework to Understand Policy Challenges,” will appear in the August issue of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. It is available for download as a discussion paper in the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Wellbeing and Human Development Project. Dr. Paul Anand, a professor affiliated with the Open University, LSE, and University of Oxford, initiated the project.
In the article, the authors examine the diversity of capabilities compromised due to COVID-19 and consider the emerging policy responses in several countries. Based on these analyses, the authors lay out several priorities for policymakers and the public to map the road ahead. “We argue that it is important to meet economic challenges from a people-first perspective,” said Gao. “One global priority is the need to develop low carbon economies. This could be beneficial for job creation as well as meeting the UN sustainable development goals.”
