Title: Practical gender needs and women empowerment: an impact assessment of microfinance

Authors: Biswajit Prasad Chhatoi; Sharada Prasad Sahoo; Manoj Kumar Dash

Addresses: Department of Economics and Management, Khallikote University, Konishi, Berhampur, Odisha, India ' Department of Economics and Management, Khallikote University, Konishi, Berhampur, Odisha, India ' Department of Economics and Management, Khallikote University, Konishi, Berhampur, Odisha, India

Abstract: People at the base of the pyramid are equally interested for socio-economic change through enhanced participation in practical gender needs (PGNs) for their social empowerment. This paper attempts to estimate the impact of microfinance participation on decision making related to PGNs of women. This study is exploratory in nature, and is based on a primary survey. Using multi-stage sampling, the authors purposefully sampled 660 poor women, spread over four districts of Odisha. The research results revealed that out of all the practical needs, microfinance has a significant impact on five practical needs, whereas on the rest of the practical needs, microfinance participation has insignificant impact. The enhanced ability to provide practical needs will lead to participations in strategic needs. The enhanced participation in both type of decision making is an indicator of women empowerment and an agent of change for socio-economic development. The results of paper provide insights into the enriched participation of women in practical need decision-making by estimating impacts on economic and social aspects. This work has potential to change the policy formulation by posing greater importance on the social dimensions of microfinance.

Keywords: microfinance; practical gender need; PGN; probit model; women empowerment; socio-economic development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2022.127499

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2022 Vol.28 No.4, pp.522 - 543

Received: 14 Feb 2020
Accepted: 21 May 2020
Published online: 07 Dec 2022 *

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