Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, Vol 15, No 4 (2019)

Abstract

In recent years the concept of inclusive growth has moved to the top of the agenda for economic development policy advancement. The concept is relatively new within the field of Development Economics with limited research available. Some confusion also still exists regarding the definition of inclusive growth as a concept and the sub-research field is not as well established if compared to other similar concepts such as economic development and pro-poor growth. The study had the objective to clarify the concept of inclusive growth and also to apply an alternative inclusive growth index for the BRICS countries to assess their performance. The research methodology included a literature review and a comparative assessment of the inclusive growth performance of the BRICS countries from 1997 to 2017. Results indicated that all five the countries have achieved medium levels of inclusive growth, except for South Africa which only achieved a low level of inclusive growth. China had the highest index of 70.3, while India had the highest rate of growth in the improvement of the index of approximately 2.0 percent per annum. The results of the comparative study indicate that governments are required to intervene through improved policy implementation to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to participate and benefit from economic and social aspects. Good governance, with strong institutions, also assists in inclusive growth success.