IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v8y1999i5p415-428.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Women's participation in rural credit programmes in Bangladesh and their demand for formal health care: is there a positive impact?1

Author

Listed:
  • Priya Nanda

Abstract

Within the overall aim of poverty alleviation, development efforts have included credit and self‐employment programmes. In Bangladesh, the major beneficiaries of such group‐based credit programmes are rural women who use the loans to initiate small informal income‐generating activities. This paper explores the benefits of women's participation in credit programmes on their own health seeking. Using data from a sample of 1798 households from rural Bangladesh, conducted in 1991–1992 through repeated random sampling of 87 districts covered by Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), this paper addresses the question: does women's participation in credit programmes significantly affect their use of formal health care? A non‐unitary household preference model is suggested to test the hypothesis that women's empowerment through participation in these programmes results in greater control of resources for their own demand for formal health care. The analysis controls for endogeneity due to self‐selection and other unobserved village level factors through the use of a weighted two stage instrumental variable approach with village level fixed effects. The findings indicate a positive impact of women's participation in credit programmes on their demand for formal health care. The policy simulations on the results of this study highlight the importance of credit programmes as a health intervention in addition to being a mechanism for women's economic empowerment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Priya Nanda, 1999. "Women's participation in rural credit programmes in Bangladesh and their demand for formal health care: is there a positive impact?1," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(5), pages 415-428, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:8:y:1999:i:5:p:415-428
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1050(199908)8:5<415::AID-HEC450>3.0.CO;2-L
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1050(199908)8:53.0.CO;2-L
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1050(199908)8:5<415::AID-HEC450>3.0.CO;2-L?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wong, Emelita L. & Popkin, Barry M. & Guilkey, David K. & Akin, John S., 1987. "Accessibility, quality of care and prenatal care use in the Philippines," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 24(11), pages 927-944, January.
    2. Mark R. Rosenzweig & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 1985. "Specific Experience, Household Structure, and Intergenerational Transfers: Farm Family Land and Labor Arrangements in Developing Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(Supplemen), pages 961-987.
    3. Friedlander, Daniel & Robins, Philip K, 1995. "Evaluating Program Evaluations: New Evidence on Commonly Used Nonexperimental Methods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(4), pages 923-937, September.
    4. Hausman, Jerry & McFadden, Daniel, 1984. "Specification Tests for the Multinomial Logit Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(5), pages 1219-1240, September.
    5. Kenneth Bollen & David Guilkey & Thomas Mroz, 1995. "Binary outcomes and endogenous explanatory variables: Tests and solutions with an application to the demand for contraceptive use in tunisia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(1), pages 111-131, February.
    6. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    7. Behrman, Jere R. & Wolfe, Barbara L., 1987. "How does mother's schooling affect family health, nutrition, medical care usage, and household sanitation?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-2), pages 185-204.
    8. Pitt, Mark M & Rosenzweig, Mark R & Gibbons, Donna M, 1993. "The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 7(3), pages 319-348, September.
    9. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker, 1998. "The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 958-996, October.
    10. Schuler, Sidney Ruth & Hashemi, Syed Mesbahuddin & Riley, Ann P., 1997. "The influence of women's changing roles and status in Bangladesh's fertility transition: Evidence from a study of credit programs and contraceptive use," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 563-575, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Godoy, Ricardo A. & Patel, Ankur & Reyes-García, Victoria & Seyfried, Craig Jr. & Leonard, William R. & McDade, Thomas & Tanner, Susan & Vadez, Vincent, 2006. "Nutritional status and spousal empowerment among native Amazonians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1517-1530, September.
    2. B. Savitha & Kiran K. B., 2015. "Microhealth insurance and the risk coping strategies for the management of illness in Karnataka: a case study," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 145-163, April.
    3. Maldonado, Jorge Higinio & Gonzalez-Vega, Claudio & Romero, Vivianne, 2003. "The Influence Of Microfinance On The Education Decisions Of Rural Households: Evidence From Bolivia," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22067, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Maldonado, Jorge H. & González-Vega, Claudio, 2008. "Impact of Microfinance on Schooling: Evidence from Poor Rural Households in Bolivia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2440-2455, November.
    5. Isaac Koomson & Abdallah Abdul-Mumuni & Anthony Abbam, 2021. "Effect of financial inclusion on out-of-pocket health expenditure: empirics from Ghana," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(9), pages 1411-1425, December.
    6. Yu-hwei Tseng & Mujibul Alam Khan, 2015. "Where Do the Poorest Go to Seek Outpatient Care in Bangladesh: Hospitals Run by Government or Microfinance Institutions?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Masud Ahmed, Syed & Chowdhury, Mushtaque & Bhuiya, Abbas, 2001. "Micro-Credit and Emotional Well-Being: Experience of Poor Rural Women from Matlab, Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1957-1966, November.
    8. Noray, Savannah & Janzen, Sarah A., 2017. "Household Migration and Expenditure Decisions," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258539, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Jutting, Johannes Paul, 2002. "The Impact Of Health Insurance On The Access To Health Care And Financial Protection In Rural Areas Of Developing Countries: Case Study Senegal," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19641, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. 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.
    11. Dilruba Khanam & Muhammad Mohiuddin & Asadul Hoque & Olaf Weber, 2018. "Financing micro-entrepreneurs for poverty alleviation: a performance analysis of microfinance services offered by BRAC, ASA, and Proshika from Bangladesh," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.
    12. Kondo, Naoki & Minai, Junko & Imai, Hisashi & Yamagata, Zentaro, 2007. "Engagement in a cohesive group and higher-level functional capacity in older adults in Japan: A case of the Mujin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 2311-2323, June.

    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. Ahsan, Md Nazmul & Maharaj, Riddhi, 2018. "Parental human capital and child health at birth in India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 130-149.
    2. Lucia Dalla Pellegrina, 2007. "Microfinance and Investment: a Comparison with Bank and Informal Lending," Working Papers 20070401, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Dipartimento di Statistica, revised Apr 2007.
    3. Lindelow, Magnus, 2004. "Health care decisions as a family matter - intra-household education externalities and the utilization of health services," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3324, The World Bank.
    4. Rachel Connelly & Deborah DeGraff & Deborah Levison & Brian McCall, 2006. "Tackling The Endogeneity Of Fertility In The Study Of Women'S Employment In Developing Countries: Alternative Estimation Strategies Using Data From Urban Brazil," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 561-597.
    5. Dalla Pellegrina, Lucia, 2011. "Microfinance and Investment: A Comparison with Bank and Informal Lending," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 882-897, June.
    6. Somanathan, Aparnaa, 2008. "Use of modern medical care for pregnancy and childbirth care : does female schooling matter ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4625, The World Bank.
    7. Abu S. Shonchoy, 2015. "Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, March.
    8. Dagnelie, Olivier & Luca, Giacomo Davide De & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2018. "Violence, selection and infant mortality in Congo," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 153-177.
    9. Paxson, Christina*Schady, Norbert, 1999. "Do school facilities matter? : the case of the Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES)," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2229, The World Bank.
    10. Cameron, Lisa A., 2002. "Did social safety net scholarships reduce drop-out rates during the Indonesian economic crisis?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2800, The World Bank.
    11. Abou-Ali, Hala, 2003. "Child mortality, wealth and education: direct versus indirect effects," Working Papers in Economics 114, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    12. Jaume Puig & Marc Sáez & Esther Martínez Garcia, 1998. "Health care provider choice in the case of patient-initiated contacts. An extended version of discrete choice of model demand," Working Papers, Research Center on Health and Economics 308, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    13. Rey Hernández-Julián & Hani Mansour & Christina Peters, 2014. "The Effects of Intrauterine Malnutrition on Birth and Fertility Outcomes: Evidence From the 1974 Bangladesh Famine," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1775-1796, October.
    14. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    15. Bautista, Cristina M., 1995. "Patterns of Health Care Expenditures, Utilization and Demand for Medical Care in Sample Philippine Households," Discussion Papers DP 1995-09, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    16. K. Bolin & B. Lindgren & P. Lundborg, 2008. "Informal and formal care among single‐living elderly in Europe," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 393-409, March.
    17. Olfa Frini & Christophe Muller, 2017. "Fertility Regulation Behavior: Sequential Decisions in Tunisia," Working Papers halshs-01624778, HAL.
    18. Hengjin Dong & Adjima Gbangou & Manuela Allegri & Subhash Pokhrel & Rainer Sauerborn, 2008. "The differences in characteristics between health-care users and non-users: implication for introducing community-based health insurance in Burkina Faso," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 9(1), pages 41-50, February.
    19. Badruddoza, S., 2012. "Pins in the shoes of microfinance," MPRA Paper 37944, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Tunvir Ahamed Shohel & Sara Niner & Samanthi J. Gunawardana, 2023. "‘Even Though I Get a Loan, My Husband Controls It’: Rhetoric Versus Reality of Empowering Bangladeshi Women Through Microfinance Programs," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 794-819, August.

    More about this item

    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:wly:hlthec:v:8:y:1999:i:5:p:415-428. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.