Asset-Centred Redistributive Policies for Sustainable Development

Analyses of redistributive policies generally focus on income flows while subordinating most concerns to the overarching objective of promoting economic growth. This paper follows an alternative approach with the objective of proposing an asset-centred analytical framework, which encompasses income flows, but is centred on the stock of income-generating assets in the private and public sectors. Such a stock-flow approach reveals an artificial blind spot common to many analyses of redistributive policies: wealth redistribution. The proposed framework further allows better outlining key linkages between redistributive policies and sustainable development, including issues arising from the private ownership and overexploitation of finite natural resources. Contrasting the potential scope of asset-centred redistributive policies with the more narrow set of policies that have been implemented in most countries/regions over the last 30 years, the paper makes several recommendations for redistributive policies in support of greater equity, economic democracy and sustainable development.