Der Social Protection Index der Asiatischen Entwicklungsbank. Eine konzeptionelle Auseinandersetzung am Beispiel Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract

The Social Protection Index of the Asian Development Bank. A conceptual query with reference to Vietnam. In the wake of the Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has broadened its thematic focus from economic development to social protection. One of the bank’s initiatives in this area was to design a Social Protection Index to measure and compare the social activities of member states. An analysis of the Vietnamese social protection system exemplifies two major restraints of the index: first, the index has severe conceptual shortcomings in that it leaves out questions of social rights and redistribution; secondly, the measurement of social protection in Vietnam does not take vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities, the urban poor and women adequately into account. Given the current deficiencies, the allocation of development projects based on the index could further enhance the exclusion of certain vulnerable groups.