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on Microfinance |
| By: | De Hoop, Thomas; Van Kempen, Luuk; Linssen, Rik; Van Eerdewijk, Anouka |
| Abstract: | This paper presents quasi-experimental impact estimates of women self-help groups on subjective well-being in Orissa, India. We find that, on average, self-help group membership does not affect subjective well-being. However, our results at the same time reveal that subjective well-being sharply declines for those members whose newly gained autonomy meets with relatively conservative social gender norms among non-members. We interpret this finding as evidence for heterogeneous losses of feelings of identity for self-help group members. Identity losses loom larger when women’s enhanced autonomy implies a stronger violation of social gender norms at the community level. Social sanctioning mechanisms play an important role in the heterogeneous negative impact on subjective well-being, as evidenced by qualitative accounts of women’s empowerment trajectories in the research area. |
| Keywords: | Autonomy; Subjective Well-Being; Impact Evaluation; Identity; Sanctioning; India |
| JEL: | I31 I38 Z13 O12 |
| Date: | 2010–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:25921&r=mfd |
| By: | Fengxia Dong (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD); Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI)); Jing Lu; Allen Featherstone |
| Abstract: | Agricultural production is strongly conditioned by the fact that inputs are transformed into outputs with considerable time lags, causing the rural household to balance its budget during the season when there are high expenditures for input purchases and consumption and few revenues. With limited access to credit, the budget balance within the year can become a constraint to agricultural production. As is the case in many developing countries, Chinese rural households have been suffering from a lack of access to capital. While China is one of the biggest countries in terms of rural areas and agricultural production, few studies have focused on the impact of credit on agriculture in China. Using survey data, this study aims to examine how credit constraints currently affect agricultural productivity and rural household income in China. The study findings suggest that under credit constraints, production inputs, along with farmers’ capabilities and education, cannot be fully employed. By removing credit constraints, agricultural productivity and rural household income can be improved. |
| Keywords: | credit constraint, household income, productivity, rural China. |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:10-wp516&r=mfd |