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Financial access and women's role in household decisions: Empirical evidence from India's National Rural Livelihoods project

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  • Kochar, Anjini
  • Nagabhushana, Closepet
  • Sarkar, Ritwik
  • Shah, Rohan
  • Singh, Geeta

Abstract

Government programs supporting self help groups (SHGs) generally target women on the assumption that doing so enhances women's decision-making. The empirical evidence, however, is mixed. We advance and test one explanation: the loan amounts offered by most SHGs may be too small to impact women. Our analysis is based on SHGs developed under India's National Rural Livelihoods Mission, a program that supported both small loans from internal savings and larger loans through Community Investment Funds (CIFs). Exploiting variation in their phasing and amount, we document a large effect of CIFs on women's decision-making and on intra-household allocations.

Suggested Citation

  • Kochar, Anjini & Nagabhushana, Closepet & Sarkar, Ritwik & Shah, Rohan & Singh, Geeta, 2022. "Financial access and women's role in household decisions: Empirical evidence from India's National Rural Livelihoods project," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:155:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000050
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102821
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    Cited by:

    1. Zelu, Barbara Ama & Iranzo, Susana & Perez-Laborda, Alejandro, 2024. "Financial inclusion and women economic empowerment in Ghana," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Ashwini Deshpande & Shantanu Khanna & Daksh Walia, 2024. "An Indian Enigma? Labour market impacts of the world’s largest livelihoods program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 1-20, September.
    3. Abiola John Asaleye & Kariena Strydom, 2023. "Promoting Women’s Empowerment: Linkages Between Financial Development, Employment and Economic Growth in Selected African Economies," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    4. Subash Surendran Padmaja & Aditya Korekallu Srinivasa & Pooja Trivedi & Kondapi Srinivas, 2023. "Women self‐help groups and intra‐household decision‐making in agriculture," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 857-876, September.
    5. Hongyun Zheng & Yuwen Zhou & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Smartphone use, off‐farm employment, and women's decision‐making power: Evidence from rural China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1327-1353, August.
    6. Maren Duvendack & Lina Sonne & Supriya Garikipati, 2023. "Gender Inclusivity of India’s Digital Financial Revolution for Attainment of SDGs: Macro Achievements and the Micro Experiences of Targeted Initiatives," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(6), pages 1369-1391, December.
    7. Ding, Yawen & Wang, Xiaobing & Qiu, Huanguang, 2022. "Gift of relocation: Women’s decision making power consequences of China’s poverty alleviation relocation program," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322535, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Women's decision-making; Self help groups; Loan size;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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