New Economics Papers
on Microfinance
Issue of 2007‒02‒17
one paper chosen by
Aastha Pudasainee and Olivier Dagnelie


  1. Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines* By Dean Karlan; Nava Ashraf; Wesley Yin

  1. By: Dean Karlan; Nava Ashraf; Wesley Yin
    Abstract: Female “empowerment” has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a randomized controlled trial, we examine whether access to an individually-held commitment savings product leads to an increase in female decision-making power within the household. We find positive impacts, particularly for women who have below median decision-making power in the baseline, and we find this leads to a shift towards female-oriented durables goods purchased in the household.
    Keywords: savings, microfinance, female empowerment, household decision making,commitment
    JEL: D12 D63 D91 J16 O12 O16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:106&r=mfd

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