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Access to microfinance and female labour force participation

Author

Listed:
  • Niaz Asadullah
  • Nudrat Faria Shreya
  • Zaki Wahhaj

Abstract

Although microfinance started as a movement to improve women's economic well-being through increased female entrepreneurship in particular, its impact on women's attitudes toward and participation in the labour market is not fully understood. We fill this gap by combining data on branch locations of the major microfinance institutions in Bangladesh with household survey data and implement a spatial regression discontinuity design.

Suggested Citation

  • Niaz Asadullah & Nudrat Faria Shreya & Zaki Wahhaj, 2021. "Access to microfinance and female labour force participation," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-30, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-30
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    4. Chi, Wei & Li, Bo, 2014. "Trends in China’s gender employment and pay gap: Estimating gender pay gaps with employment selection," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 708-725.
    5. Beatriz Armendáriz & Jonathan Morduch, 2010. "The Economics of Microfinance, Second Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262014106, December.
    6. Farzana Afridi & Taryn Dinkelman & Kanika Mahajan, 2018. "Why are fewer married women joining the work force in rural India? A decomposition analysis over two decades," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 783-818, July.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfinance; female entrepreneurship; Wellbeing; Gender norms; Regression discontinuity; Bangladesh;
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