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Women’s empowerment in action: evidence from a randomized control trial in Africa

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  • Bandiera, Oriana
  • Buehren, Niklas
  • Burgess, Robin
  • Goldstein, Markus
  • Gulesci, Selim
  • Rasul, Imran
  • Sulaiman, Munshi

Abstract

We evaluate a multifaceted policy intervention attempting to jump-start adolescent women's empowerment in Uganda by simultaneously providing them vocational training and information on sex, reproduction, and marriage. We find that four years postintervention, adolescent girls in treated communities are more likely to be self-employed. Teen pregnancy, early entry into marriage/cohabitation, and the share of girls reporting sex against their will fall sharply. The results highlight the potential of a multifaceted program that provides skills transfers as a viable and cost-effective policy intervention to improve the economic and social empowerment of adolescent girls over a four-year horizon.

Suggested Citation

  • Bandiera, Oriana & Buehren, Niklas & Burgess, Robin & Goldstein, Markus & Gulesci, Selim & Rasul, Imran & Sulaiman, Munshi, 2020. "Women’s empowerment in action: evidence from a randomized control trial in Africa," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102465, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:102465
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    Cited by:

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    3. Janzen, Sarah A. & Magnan, Nicholas & Mullally, Conner C. & Sharma, Shruti, 2021. "Training and Shifting Gender Norms: Evidence from a training intervention in rural Nepal," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314065, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. So Yoon Ahn & Youjin Hahn & Semee Yoon, 2021. "Can New Learning Opportunities Reshape Gender Attitudes for Girls?: Field Evidence from Tanzania," Working Papers 2021-046, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Shah,Manisha & Seager,Jennifer & Montalvao Machado,Joao H. C. & Goldstein,Markus P., 2022. "Two Sides of Gender : Sex, Power, and Adolescence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10072, The World Bank.
    6. Michael Vlassopoulos & Abu Siddique & Tabassum Rahman & Debayan Pakrashi & Asad Islam & Firoz Ahmed, 2024. "Improving Women's Mental Health during a Pandemic," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 422-455, April.
    7. Maria Laura Alzúa & Soyolmaa Batbekh & Altantsetseg Batchuluun & Bayarmaa Dalkhjav & José Galdo, 2021. "Demand-Driven Youth Training Programs: Experimental Evidence from Mongolia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(3), pages 720-744.
    8. Marcos Agurto & Sandra Buzinsky & Fernando Fernandez & Javier Torres, 2020. "Empowering College Students through Community Engagement: Experimental Evidence from Peru," Working Papers 2020-07, Lima School of Economics.
    9. Ambler, Kate & Jones, Kelly & O'Sullivan, Michael, 2021. "Facilitating women’s access to an economic empowerment initiative: Evidence from Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    10. Calderone, Margherita & Fiala, Nathan & Melyoki, Lemayon Lemilia & Schoofs, Annekathrin & Steinacher, Rachel, 2022. "Making intense skills training work at scale: Evidence on business and labor market outcomes in Tanzania," Ruhr Economic Papers 950, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Smita Das & Clara Delavallade & Ayodele Fashogbon & Wale Olatunji Ogunleye & Sreelakshmi Papineni, 2023. "Occupational sex segregation in agriculture: Evidence on gender norms and socio‐emotional skills in Nigeria," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 179-219, March.
    12. Andreas Backhaus & Elke Loichinger, 2022. "Female Labor Force Participation in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Cohort Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(2), pages 379-411, June.
    13. D’Exelle, Ben & Ringdal, Charlotte, 2022. "Women’s use of family planning services: An experiment on the husband’s involvement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Bui, Quang Nhat & Hoang, Trung Xuan & Nguyen, Minh Khac & Nguyen, Trung Tien, 2020. "Land fragmentation, women empowerment and school dropout of children in Vietnam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    15. Solène Delecourt & Anne Fitzpatrick, 2021. "Childcare Matters: Female Business Owners and the Baby-Profit Gap," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4455-4474, July.
    16. Laszlo, Sonia & Grantham, Kate & Oskay, Ecem & Zhang, Tingting, 2020. "Grappling with the challenges of measuring women's economic empowerment in intrahousehold settings," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    17. Goedhuys, Micheline & Grimm, Michael & Meysonnat, Aline & Nillesen, Eleonora & Reitmann, Ann-Kristin, 2021. "Measuring Youth Empowerment: An Illustration Using the Example of Tunisia," IZA Discussion Papers 14760, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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