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Microfinance and gender inequality: cross-country evidence

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  • Quanda Zhang
  • Alberto Posso

Abstract

Microfinance enables poor women to engage in income-generating activities, which helps them become financially independent, strengthening their decision-making power within the household and society. Consequently, microfinance has the potential to reduce gender inequality (GI). Case-study evidence from across the developing world both supports and contradicts this hypothesis. We therefore revisit this issue using macroeconomic cross-country panel data for 64 developing economies over the period 2003–2014. We find that women’s participation in microfinance is associated with a reduction in GI. However, regional interactions reveal that cultural factors are likely to influence the GI–microfinance nexus.

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  • Quanda Zhang & Alberto Posso, 2017. "Microfinance and gender inequality: cross-country evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(20), pages 1494-1498, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:24:y:2017:i:20:p:1494-1498
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2017.1287851
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    Cited by:

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    4. Amina Ika Micah, 2022. "Three essays on access to credit and financial shock in Nigeria," Economics PhD Theses 0422, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
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    7. 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.
    8. Salvador Cruz Rambaud & Joaquín López Pascual & Roberto Moro-Visconti & Emilio M. Santandreu, 2022. "Should gender be a determinant factor for granting crowdfunded microloans?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Hongyun Zheng & Love Offeibea Asiedu-Ayeh & Anthony Siaw & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Access to Financial Services and Its Impact on Household Income: Evidence from Rural Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 869-890, August.
    10. Linda Nakato, 2024. "Including Men in a Female Financial Model: An Analysis of Informal Grassroots Financial Associations," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(1), pages 25-52, February.
    11. Omika Bhalla Saluja & Priyanka Singh & Harit Kumar, 2023. "Barriers and interventions on the way to empower women through financial inclusion: a 2 decades systematic review (2000–2020)," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.

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