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Does Microfinance Enhance Gender Equity in Access to Finance? Evidence from Pakistan

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  • Ghazal Zulfiqar

Abstract

This paper descriptively analyzes longitudinal microfinance outreach numbers and interview data from 140 practitioners and borrowers in Pakistan to examine whether the claim that microfinance enhances gender equity in access to finance can be substantiated. This assertion has recently replaced the more ambitious contention that microfinance has an empowering impact on women. The paper argues that this shift has occurred because of increased commercialization at the global level and authoritative assessments against the empowerment claim. The study further considers whether the frame of competing logics from institutional theory can explain the case of the Pakistani microfinance sector, in which, as shown here, commercialized microfinance has actually led to a rise in gender inequalities in access to finance. The paper attributes this rise to the inability of the Pakistani microfinance sector to reconcile the competing logics of development and banking.

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  • Ghazal Zulfiqar, 2017. "Does Microfinance Enhance Gender Equity in Access to Finance? Evidence from Pakistan," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 160-185, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:23:y:2017:i:1:p:160-185
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2016.1193213
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Klapper, Leora & Singer, Dorothe, 2013. "Financial inclusion and legal discrimination against women : evidence from developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6416, The World Bank.
    2. Mehnaz Safavian & Aban Haq, 2013. "Are Pakistan's Women Entrepreneurs Being Served by the Microfinance Sector?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15929, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Salman Mahmood & Wen shuhui & Shoaib Aslam & Tanveer Ahmed, 2022. "The Financial Inclusion Development and Its Impacts on Disposable Income," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    2. Sarah Wali Qazi, M. Zaki Rashidi, 2018. "Nurturing Women Empowerment? A Phenomenological Study of the Linkages between Women, Micro Entrepreneurship and Access to Microcredit," Journal of Management Sciences, Geist Science, Iqra University, Faculty of Business Administration, vol. 5(2), pages 3-21, October.
    3. Tisdell, Clem & Ahmad, Shabbir, 2017. "Microfinancing in Developing Countries: An Assessment Taking Particular Account of the Views of Becker and Posner," Social Economics, Policy and Development Working Papers 263400, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    4. Zeleke Worku, 2019. "Regulatory Obstacles and Small, Micro and Medium-sized Enterprises," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 44-50.
    5. Icíar García-Pérez & María Ángeles Fernández-Izquierdo & María Jesús Muñoz-Torres, 2020. "Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, March.
    6. Nyarko, Samuel Anokye, 2022. "Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of an international founder," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    7. Md. Ali Rasel & Sandar Win, 2020. "Microfinance governance: a systematic review and future research directions," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(7), pages 1811-1847, April.

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