The Effects of Microfinance on Women's Empowerment: New Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of microcredit on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh using the latest primary data. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data have been collected by a household survey in the four districts of Bangladesh. Logistic regression is used to estimate the odd of improving women empowerment after participating in microfinance. Findings – The results show positive impacts of microfinance on most of the selected indicators for women’s empowerment. Research limitations/implications – Lack of control groups and baseline data are the main limitation of this research. Future research can address this issue by selecting institutions with baseline data or control groups. Practical implications – The findings of the study can help policy makers to adopt appropriate policies that integrate empowerment in development projects with women. Social implications – The results of this research could encourage more women to participate in microfinance activities and development projects. Originality/value – This research provides the most updated data from a primary survey in Bangladesh. The authors also mitigate the possible selection biases by using a fixed-effects estimator.