IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/14849.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are women economically more empowered in Left-run municipalities? A study of Self Help Groups in West Bengal, India

Author

Listed:
  • Husain, Zakir
  • Mukherjee, Diganta
  • Dutta, Mousumi

Abstract

Who controls the income earned by Self Help Group (SHG) members from group activities – they, or their husbands? The answer indicates the level of economic empowerment attained by SHG members. This paper examines whether identity of person controlling this income depends upon the political party ruling the municipality where the SHG is situated. Two parties are considered – the Left Front, a coalition comprising of Leftist parties, and the Indian National Congress. This paper is based on a field study of 240 SHG members in six municipalities in West Bengal, a major state in India.

Suggested Citation

  • Husain, Zakir & Mukherjee, Diganta & Dutta, Mousumi, 2010. "Are women economically more empowered in Left-run municipalities? A study of Self Help Groups in West Bengal, India," MPRA Paper 14849, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14849/1/MPRA_paper_14849.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/39991/1/MPRA_paper_39991.pdf
    File Function: revised version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pitt, M.M. & Khandker, S.R., 1996. "Household and Intrahousehold Impact of the Grameen Bank and Similar Targeted Credit Programs in Bangladesh," World Bank - Discussion Papers 320, World Bank.
    2. Hashemi, Syed M. & Schuler, Sidney Ruth & Riley, Ann P., 1996. "Rural credit programs and women's empowerment in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 635-653, April.
    3. Kabeer, Naila, 2001. "Conflicts Over Credit: Re-Evaluating the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 63-84, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zakir Husain & Diganta Mukerjee & Mousumi Dutta, 2014. "Self‐Help Groups And Empowerment Of Women: Self‐Selection, Or Actual Benefits?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 422-437, May.
    2. Lutfun N. Khan Osmani, 2007. "A breakthrough in women's bargaining power: the impact of microcredit," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 695-716.
    3. Saha, Bibhas & Sangwan, Navjot, 2019. "Credit where credit's due: The enabling effects of empowerment in Indian microfinance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 537-551.
    4. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    5. Supriya Garikipati & Susan Johnson & Isabelle Guérin & Ariane Szafarz, 2017. "Microfinance and Gender: Issues, Challenges and The Road Ahead," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 641-648, May.
    6. Supriya Garikipati & Isabelle Agier & Isabelle Guérin & Ariane Szafarz, 2017. "The Cost of Empowerment: Multiple Sources of Women’s Debt in Rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 700-722, May.
    7. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    8. Nebal Al Maaitah, 2019. "The Legitimacy of Profit of Microlending Institutions and Womens Empowerment: A Case Study from Jordan," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 15(01), pages 3-17.
    9. Namizata Binaté Fofana & Johan A. C. van Ophem & Anke Niehof & Gerrit Antonides, 2014. "Effects of HIV/AIDS and Microfinance of Women on Income, Medical Expenditures and Schooling in Côte d'Ivoire," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 322-332, June.
    10. Schicks, Jessica, 2014. "Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance – An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 301-324.
    11. Chin, Yoo-Mi, 2012. "Credit Program Participation and Decline in Violence: Does Self-Selection Matter?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1690-1699.
    12. Ngo, Thi Minh-Phuong & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2012. "Microfinance and gender empowerment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 1-12.
    13. Ashish Bajracharya & Sajeda Amin, 2013. "Microcredit and Domestic Violence in Bangladesh: An Exploration of Selection Bias Influences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(5), pages 1819-1843, October.
    14. Hiller, Victor & Touré, Nouhoum, 2021. "Endogenous gender power: The two facets of empowerment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    15. Swaminathan, Hema & Findeis, Jill L., 2003. "Impact Of Credit On Labor Allocation And Consumption Patterns In Malawi," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22118, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    16. J.D. Von Pischke, 1997. "Poverty, Human Development and Financial Services," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-1997-04, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    17. Duvendack, Maren & Palmer-Jones, Richard, 2011. "The microfinance of reproduction and the reproduction of microfinance: understanding the connections between microfinance, empowerment, contraception and fertility in Bangladesh in the 1990s," MPRA Paper 32384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Tassel, Eric Van, 2004. "Household bargaining and microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 449-468, August.
    19. Chliova, Myrto & Brinckmann, Jan & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2015. "Is microcredit a blessing for the poor? A meta-analysis examining development outcomes and contextual considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 467-487.
    20. Sajjad Zohir & Imran Matin, 2004. "Wider impacts of microfinance institutions: issues and concepts," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 301-330.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self Help Groups; Political structures; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises
    • D79 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Other
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14849. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.