TNAG-0531-FCO40-626-Application-of-International-Labour-Convention-to-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 159

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admittedly, the economic rank higher in global

social objectives of planning and not the economic ones; side effects of social functions of this institution will planning considerations in a developing than in an industrial country but there should not be a substitution of functions.

This principle is further strengthened by the observation that attempts to analyse social security functions with the traditional tools of economic analysis and quantify its objectives in a manner which would make them fit into the existing pattern of economic planning seem to be doomed to failure. At least one economist has honestly analysed this question and come to the conclusion that there is no clear relationship between the degree of social security and either individual or national income and that "it does not appear that development economists (or any economists, for that matter) have much to offer by way of a scientific approach to programming social security as part of the over-all development programme".i Having surveyed some existing econometric studies on the subject, he found them broadly inconclusive as to the exact nature of the relationship between social security and economic growth. He observes, however, that notwithstanding our lack of knowledge of the costing of social security operations in global economic planning, social security schemes spread and develop rapidly in countries all over the world, simply because people want them. This simple fact proves to him that there is what he calls "the social demand for social security", the evaluation of which is outside the scope of current economic analysis.

This leads us to the logical conclusion that the criteria by which to assess the desirability of including social security programmes in national development Flans are essentially non-economic criteria and that they must be recognised as such.2 It also serves to show that those who tend to see in members of society cnly factors of production, forgetting that the well-being of these same members also happens to be the ultimate objective of all economic activities, do only part of their job. Obviously, this reasoning does not give us a key to the solution of the problem of measurement and assessment of the importance of social aspects of development in societal planning, but it shows us at least what we should not do. There is probably only a small chance at present for low-income countries to succeed rapidly in developing techniques of social planning which the industrialised countries, as we have described in the first part of this study, have only begun to investigate; investment.

this is a costly enterprise requiring considerable human and capital But it would seem that the speed with which a solution will be found matters less than the awareness of the direction in which the investigation is going. For this reason, in view of the particular situation of their societies, no matter how modest a contribution could be made in the developing countries towards this research, it will be of considerable importance.

3.

Pointers to social security planning

in developing countries

As we have explained earlier, the planning process should begin by the examination of the functions of social security in the context of a developing society and by the determination of its general objectives related to the needs of the population. Particular objectives for the social security programme within the period of the plan should then be fixed in the light of these considerations. questions requiring attention will be essentially of two types: (a) matters

The

relating to the social security scheme itself; and (b) matters relating to its environment, i.e. to the relations between the scheme and other aspects of development.

1 Benjamin Higgins: "Planning Allocations for Social Development" in Inter national Social Development Review, No. 3, 1971, p. 55.

the

2 This argument is well illustrated by the observation of the late Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru, who stated once in Parliament in the course of debate on the draft outline of the Third Development Plan: "We have often talked about how much money has been spent, or why it has not been spent.

It has always struck це that не are looking at things in a very imperfect way; the question is what has been done and not how much money has been spent." (See P.P. Agarwal: "Some Aspects of Plan Implementation" in The Indian Journal of Public Administra: tion, No. 1, 1973, p. 20.)

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