Micro credit and women's agency: a comparative perspective across socio-religious communities in West Bengal, India

Kundu, AMIT (2011): Micro credit and women's agency: a comparative perspective across socio-religious communities in West Bengal, India. Published in: Gender, Technology and Development , Vol. Vol.16, No. March, 2012 (30 April 2012): pp. 71-94.

Abstract

The paper explores the impact of a government sponsored microcredit program in India on women's decision-making agency across different socio-religious communities. The paper shows that women's participation in the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojona (SGSY) has resulted in varied patterns of decision-making across socio-religious communities (SRC) in four areas chosen for inquiry: (a) Money Management, (b) Food item (c) Use of borrowed money and (d) Kinship and family matters. The likelihood of taking ‘female only’ decision than that of ‘male only’ decision has increased among participating households irrespective of caste and creed compared to control group. Men control decisions in money management in both treatment and control households. In other three spheres women of participating households have a greater say compared to control group.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Micro Credit, SGSY, Women’s Participation, Gender Roles, Decision Making Agency, Multinomial Logit Model
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I38 - Government Policy ; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender ; Non-labor Discrimination

References

Ackerly, B.A.(1995). Testing the Tools of Development: Credit Programmes, Loan Involvement and Women’s Empowerment. IDS Bulletin, 26(3), 56-58.

Arohon Trust (2010). Baseline Study for Special SGSY Project for Gumla Districts. Jharkhand, URL http plsgsyjhar.net/Project_Baseline/Gumla/gumlabaseline.pdf, (Visited on April 19, 2011).

Aghion de A and J. Morduch (2000). Micro Finance Beyond Group Lending. The Economics of Transition, 8(2). pp 401-420.

Ahamed, I. (1973). Caste and Social Stratification among Muslims in India. New Delhi: Manohar Publications.

Agarwal, B. (1994). A Field of One’s Own Gender and Land Rights in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Agarwal, B. (1997). Bargaining and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household. IFPRI FCND Discussion Paper no 27. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Amin, S., & Pebley, A. R. (1994). Gender Inequality within Households: The Impact of a Women's Development Program in 36 Bangladeshi Villages. Bangladesh Development Studies, 22(2&3), 121-154

Anand, J. S. (2002). Self-Help Groups in Empowering Women: Case study of selected SHGs and NHGs, Discussion Paper Number 38, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.India.

Banerjee Nirmala and Joyanti Sen (2003). Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana: A Budgetary Policy in Working. New Delhi, United Nation Development Fund for Women. Bound, J., D. A. Jaeger and R. Baker (1993). The Cure can be Worse than the Disease: A Cautionary Tale regarding Instrumental Variables. Technical Paper no 137. Cambridge, MA: NBER.

Deshmukh-Ranadive, J. (2003). Placing Gender Equity in the Family Centre Stage: Use of 'Kala Jatha' Theatre. Economic and Political Weekly, 38(7), 1674-79.

Field, Erica, Seema Jayachandran and Rohini Pande. (2010). Do Traditional Institutions Constrain Female Entrepreneurship? A Field Experiment on Business Training in India. Working Paper Series No. 36, IFMR Research, Centre for Micro Finance.

Goetz, A.M. and R. Sengupta(1996). Who Takes the Credit? Gender Power and Control Over Loan Use in Rural Credit Programmes in Bangladesh. World Development, 24(1): 45-63.

Government of India (2007). Evaluation of SGSY in Selected Blocks of Madhya Pradesh, Prepared by EKATRA, Sponsored by Planning Commission, New Delhi,URL http://planning commission.nic.in /reports/ peoreport/cmpdmpeo/volume1/134.pdf.(Visited on April 19, 2011).

Holvoet N. (2005). The Impact of Microfinance on Decision-Making Agency: Evidence from South India. Development and Change, 36 (1).

Kabeer, N. (1995). Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London: Verso.

Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–64.

Kabeer, N. (2001). Conflicts over Credit: Re-evaluating the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh. World Development, 29(1), 63–84.

Kazi, Seema (1999). Muslim Women in India, London: Minority Right Group

Krishna, A. (2003). Social Capital, Community Driven Development, and Empowerment: A Short Note on Concepts and Operations. World Bank Working Paper 33077, WB, Washington, DC.

Kundu, A. (2008). Impact of SGSY Scheme on Self Help Group Members in West Bengal. Afro-Asian Journal of Rural Development, 41(2), 83-104. Lukes,S.(1974). Power : A Radical View, London: Macmillan. McElroy, M. (1992). The Policy Implication of Family Bargaining and Marriage Markets. In L. Hadad, J. Hoddinot and H Aldermen (eds) Intra Household Resource Allocation in Developing Contries: Method, Model Policy, pp53-74, Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

Mencher, Joan P. (1988). Women’s Work and Poverty: Women’s Contribution to Household Maintenance in South India. In A Home Divided., ed. Daisy Dwyer and Judith Bruce. Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press.

Mohon, V. (2009). Political Participation of Muslim Women in India, Mumbai: Institute of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

Pathak D.C. and S.K. Pant (2010). Micro Finance Matters…?Impact Evaluation of SGSY: A Case Study of Jaunpur District. URLhttpwww.igidr.ac.in/.../DC%20Pathak_SK%20Pant_submission_61.pdf. (Visited on April 19, 2011).

Rahaman, R.I.(1986). Impact of Grameen Bank on the Situation of Poor rural Women. BIDS working Paper No.1.

Schuler, S. R., & Hashemi, S. M. (1994). Credit Programmes, Women's Empowerment, and Contraception. Demography, 38(2), 267-282.

Steele, F., Amin, S., & Naved, R. T. (2001). Savings/Credit Group Formation and Change in Empowerment in Bangladesh. World Development, 24, 635-653

Stigliz, J. (1990). Peer Monitoring and Credit Market. World Bank Economic Review.

Stolzenberg, R. M. and D. A. Relles (1997). Tools for Intuition about Sample Selection Bias and it’s Correction. American Sociological Review 62(3): 494–507.

Sud, Nikita. (2003): Experience of SGSY in Gujarat: From Process Oriented Theory to Deterministic Practice. Economic and Political Weekly,38(39): 4085-4087

Wagha B.R. and J.H.Gaikwad. (2008). Impact of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojona(SGSY) on the Socio Economic Status of Beneficiaries and their Suggestions from Maharashtra. Agricultural Update, 3(4), 266-268.