Interrogating inclusive growth: implications for conceptualisation, measurement and policy practice

The idea that economic growth ought to be inclusive - that governments and economic policy makers should concern themselves with not just the “pace but also the pattern” of growth - has gained considerable traction in recent years. Actors ranging from local, state, regional and national governments to civic or non-government actors to multinational corporations have embraced the rhetoric of inclusive growth, with many also developing their own suite of corresponding policy, strategy, or measurement approaches. Despite - or perhaps even because of - its popularity and proliferation, there is very little agreement around what inclusive growth actually is, how and at what spatial scale it should be pursued, and how outcomes ought to be measured. In this paper, we provide a conceptual synopsis of how and where inclusive growth emerged, what its aims are, and how it is understood and measured by its many different practitioners. We conclude with an assessment of whether this potentially valuable concept can be refined and incorporated into a unified and useful framework to inform policy and decision making.