Does urbanization empower women? Evidence from India

The paper examines the short-term implications of urbanization on women’s empowerment in India. India is currently experiencing rapid urbanization, and it is imperative to understand how this might affect women who continue to be marginalized in society. In theory, urbanization can affect women either positively or negatively. Women in urban areas, compared to their rural counterparts, are thought to enjoy greater social, economic, and political opportunities and freedoms. At the same time, research shows barriers to women’s empowerment remain widespread in urban environments. Using satellite-based nighttime light intensity as a measure of urbanization, we leverage variations over time and across regions to assess its impact. Our findings indicate that urbanization provides limited benefits for women. While it is associated with improved mobility, there is no significant relationship between urbanization and women’s labor market participation, access to information, financial autonomy, intrahousehold agency, or gender beliefs. Moreover, urbanization appears to increase the risk of intimate partner violence for women. In contrast, urbanization is linked to improved labor market participation for men, thus suggesting that the effects of urbanization are gendered. These findings suggest that, at least in the short-term, urbanization is unlikely to be very helpful in economically empowering Indian women.