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Abstract

Summary Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a randomized controlled trial, we examine whether access to and marketing of an individually held commitment savings product lead to an increase in female decision-making power within the household. We find positive impacts, particularly for women who have below median decision-making power in the baseline, and we find this leads to a shift toward female-oriented durables goods purchased in the household.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VC6-4YBMTG6-1/2/6302a1d9aa64672999456cbf810b09b2
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal World Development.

Volume (Year): 38 (2010)
Issue (Month): 3 (March)
Pages: 333-344

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Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:3:p:333-344

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev

Related research

Keywords: savings microfinance female empowerment household decision making commitment;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

• D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
• D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
• D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
• J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
• O12 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• O16 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

References

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Citations

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Cited by:

1. Brune, Lasse & Gine, Xavier & Goldberg, Jessica & Yang, Dean, 2011. "Commitments to save : a field experiment in rural Malawi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5748, The World Bank.
2. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Pandolfelli, Lauren, 2010. "Promising Approaches to Address the Needs of Poor Female Farmers: Resources, Constraints, and Interventions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 581-592, April.
   
   • Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Pandolfelli, Lauren, 2009. "Promising approaches to address the needs of poor female farmers: Resources, constraints, and interventions," IFPRI discussion papers 882, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
3. Koen Rossel-Cambier, 2010. "Do Multiple Financial Services Enhance the Poverty Outreach of Microfinance Institutions?," Working Papers CEB 10-058, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
4. Matteo Marinangeli & Andrea Filippo Presbitero, 2011. "Can the Poor Save More? Evidence from Bangladesh," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 57, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
5. Duvendack, Maren, 2010. "Smoke and Mirrors: Evidence of Microfinance Impact from an Evaluation of SEWA Bank in India," MPRA Paper 24511, University Library of Munich, Germany.
6. Bali Swain, Ranjula & Wallentin, Fan Yang, 2007. "DOES MICROFINANCE EMPOWER WOMEN? Evidence from Self Help Groups in India," Working Paper Series 2007:24, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
7. B, Ranjula & Wallentin, Fan Yang, 2008. "Economic or Non-Economic Factors – What Empowers Women?," Working Paper Series 2008:11, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.

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