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Chiranjib Neogi Amit Kumar Bhandari Sudipto Ghosh Editors Women's Entrepreneurship and Microfinance ’ fi Women s Entrepreneurship and Micro nance Chiranjib Neogi Amit Kumar Bhandari (cid:129) Sudipto Ghosh Editors ’ Women s Entrepreneurship fi and Micro nance 123 Editors Chiranjib Neogi Sudipto Ghosh Indian Statistical Institute Government of WestBengal Kolkata, West Bengal Kalyani, West Bengal India India Amit KumarBhandari Rishi Bankim Chandra EveningCollege Naihati, West Bengal India ISBN978-981-10-4267-6 ISBN978-981-10-4268-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4268-3 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017940358 ©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd. Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore189721,Singapore Foreword Thisvolume,editedbyNeogi,Bhandari,andGhosh,fillsalong-standinggapinthe literature on gender issues in development in terms of the impact of microfinance institutions and other public programs, such as MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) programmes, on women empowerment. The nation at large continues to suffer because women do not enjoy the freedom of choice and privi- legesthataresupposedtobeavailabletoallcitizensofthecountry.Severalpublic programs and institutions, such as microfinance, explicitly and implicitly target to improve the ability of women to function in an economy that boasts of being the fastest growing in the world. Chapters in the volume apply modern techniques, rigorous empirical evidence, and well-framed hypotheses to look deeper into the policy impact for the country and specifically for West Bengal. We often forget a critical point that policy makers need to be educated and updated continuously about the outcomes of the policies, and one must use the right kind of indices to assess the true state of affairs. Anyone, from policy makers to students, who is interested in women empowerment as a tool for improving his or her role as economic functionaries of the system and feels the necessity of going beyond the rhetoric and ribbon-cutting initiatives, will learn much from this volume. It goes without saying that the lead editor and many of the contributors are seasoned campaigners and very competent economists. I am confident that this volume will be a wonderful addition to the literature on gender and development. Sugata Marjit RBI Professor of Industrial Economics Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC) Member State Public Policy and Planning Board Government of West Bengal Former Vice Chancellor University of Calcutta v Preface In current times, women entrepreneurship is being regarded as an effective com- ponentofsustainableeconomicdevelopment.Inmanydevelopingcountries,where societies are male-dominated, gender discrimination is noticed with respect to income,education,propertyrights,andotherhouseholdissues.Themale-dominant social order is a major roadblock faced by women in their way towards entrepre- neurial initiatives. Gender equality is an essential component of economic growth, enablingwomentobecomemoreeffectiveeconomicactors.Oftenwomenhavenot onlyprovedtobebetterrepayersofloans,butalsobettersaversthanmen,andmore willingtoformeffectivegroupstocollectsavingsanddecreasecostsofmanysmall loans. Women, who are confident, make a good livelihood and household deci- sions, have control over resources, and can use larger loans effectively to increase their incomes, are considered potentially very good long-term clients. They can accumulate substantial savings that could then be channeled into insurance and other financial products. Women’s use of financial services can increase their income and economic security, enhance their independence, reduce the vulnera- bility of their families, and stimulate local economies. Making financial services available to women clients, without adapting those services to the special con- straints and coping strategies that arise from women’s multiple social roles, often leads to loss of opportunity to achieve both significant outreach andeconomic and socialempowerment.Availabilityofsuchfinancialservicesmightenablewomento start their economic activities, acquiring assets by investing the money borrowed. Microfinance has been accepted as a potent instrument to improve living stan- dards of the ultra-poor women in developing and least developed countries. The basicargument,infavoroflendingouttowomen,isthattheyaregoodcreditrisks, are less likely to misuse the loan and are more likely to share the benefits with others in their household, especially their children. In addition to the economic benefits, it is argued that the increasing role of women in the household economy will lead to their empowerment. During the past few decades, microcredit has enjoyed tremendous growth, and women continue to be the major beneficiaries. Impact evaluation studies routinely find that lending to women benefits their households. However, some of them also find that this may not necessarily vii viii Preface empower the women concerned. In the impoverished settings in which microfi- nance projects operate, kinship ties and marriage play an important role in pro- vidingindividualswithlegitimateclaimsoverhouseholdandcommunityresources, together with vital access to insurance networks in times of crisis. It is argued that cooperation and jointness of decision making may be more desirable for women than autonomous control over resources. This perspective has important implica- tions regarding our understanding of the empowering potential of microfinance programs. If new economic opportunities lie outside the traditional realm of the female spouse and exit options for women are severely limited, then she may be betteroffignoringthemtopreservehersocialtieswithinthecommunity.Forthese reasons, an intervention that requires cooperation of both spouses may be more successful in achieving wider social impacts than interventions that focus on women’s autonomous spheres only. In the context of microfinance, this reasoning suggests that women who receive complementary business training in an activity that ensures their husbands’ cooperation are more likely to benefit from access to credit than those who receive training in an autonomous productive activity that they can undertake independently within the household. Critics of microfinance doubt whether this has a positive impact on women empowerment. Many micro- financeschemeshaveaclearfocusonwomen.Womenuseamoresubstantialpart oftheirincomeforhealthandeducationoftheirchildren.Thus,womenplayavery important role in reducing poverty within households. However, critics argue that often women are forced to hand over the loan to men, who subsequently use the loanamountfortheirpurposes,whichmayleadtoanadditionalburdenforwomen if they are held responsible for the repayment. Women in rural areas have inherent skills and are often adept at making handmade products with easily available raw materials. With few employment choices, women often start businesses in highly saturated sectors, in the informal economy with low-productivity and low-return activities. For many rural women, entrepreneurship is part of a broader livelihood strategy, often undertaken on a part-time basis. However, financial institutions are sceptical about the entrepre- neurial abilities of women. Despite evidence that loan repayment rates are higher amongwomenthanmen, womenstillfacemoredifficultiesinobtainingcreditdue to the discriminatory attitude of financial institutions. It is noticed that only a minuscule percentage of women who had taken a loan for income-generating activities have autonomous control over the loan money. In maximum instances, a male member of the family enjoys the control of loan proceeds. Given this back- drop,thisvolumeseekstounderstandtheinfluenceandimpactofmicrofinanceon women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment within developing countries. ThefirstchapterbyChaitiSharmaBiswasdepictsthatmostIndianwomenhave a medium-level empowerment in the family. A very small percentage of women have high level of empowerment, which is normal in a patriarchal society; the percentage of women having a low level of empowerment is also surprisingly modestinIndia.Majorityofwomenhavemedium-leveleducation,whichisoflittle use because most of the respondents remain unemployed. Thosewho optfor ajob are mainly engaged in manual or unskilled jobs, indicating that in a patriarchal Preface ix society, social norms are so rigid that medium or higher education fails to involve women in the job market. To ensure high-level empowerment, women must be engaged in high-level jobs which in turn require them to be highly qualified. High qualification and high-level job simultaneously create greater confidence among women, which ultimately helps them to make choices. Moreover, if they earn as muchasormorethantheirhusband,thentheirlevelofconfidencewillincreasetoa greatextent,whichinturnwillincreasetheircontrolonhouseholddecisionmaking. In the second chapter, Subhendu Chakrabarti aims to develop a generalized empowerment index through an axiomatic approach taking into account thevaried levelofindividualempowermentforeachattributewithinthespecificcontext.The index has been constructed by calculating simple average of the level of empow- erment along individual attributes. It is revealed from the analysis that the level of women empowerment significantly differs among states, and within and between zones. Each zone represents some degree of social and cultural homogeneity, and these social and culture systems consist of rationale norms, values, and beliefs on which there is simultaneous consensus and disagreement, and which are subject to change. Based on an application of the empowerment index, one can identify the factordominanceandthenplanaccordingly.However,emphasisonlyonthesetwo factorswillbelesseffectiveinasocietywherereligious and/orculturaldominance is very high. In their contribution, Arghya Kusum Mukherjee and Amit Kundu highlight the roleoftraditionalinstitutionsandfemalebeneficiariesofMahatmaGandhiNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in West Bengal. Given the sim- ilarity in the socioeconomic characteristics of household across social groups, the difference among the groups in their response to MGNREGA participation is enormous. One possibility is that MGNREGA has attracted a highly selected sample of upper caste (UC) women who were especially responsive to MGNREGA. If social restrictedness creates bottlenecks for knowledge, and par- ticipationinMGNREGAallowedUCwomentochallengeexistinggendernormsto enhance theiragency, thenthequestionarises,why Muslimwomen, whoaremost fettered by social norms, did not respond more to the MGNREGA than scheduled caste (SC) women did. One explanation of the author’s result is non-monotonicity in the effect of social restrictions. Participation in MGNREGA helped women whose agency had been held down by social restrictions, but women subject to extreme oppressions had too little agency to change desire or deeds. In the chapter titled “Empowerment of Women Through Public Programs in Rural West Bengal: A Study on National Rural Livelihood Mission in a Block of Purulia”, Tithi Bose and Archita Ghosh investigated the empowerment of women throughpublicprogramsadoptingavillage-levelsurveyinWestBengalandfound thatinvolvementinagroupcanhaveabigimpactonwomenempowerment.Loans fromthegroupscanbeagreatsourceofself-employmentforthewomeninvolved, which develops self-esteem among women, helps to raise their voices against any corruption, and uplifts their position in their families. Women associated with groups are comparatively more aware and, therefore, manage to get panchayat’s assistance for sanitation and electrification facilities. They do not find any x Preface enhancement in expenditure as a result of group association or group loans. Nevertheless, groups and group loans have highly impacted economic empower- ment.Grouploansandassociationwithgroupshavesociallyempoweredwomenas women associated with groups can stand beside other women, influence family decisionsinabettermanner,participatemoreinpublicandpoliticalgatherings,and engagethemselveswithdifferentsortsofsocialgatherings.Membersofgroupsthat are not organized properly to make the members aware of new features are losing interestinsuchgroups.Alltheimplementingagenciesshouldworkinacoordinated manner to develop self-help groups (SHGs) and make their members truly eco- nomically self-empowered. In their contribution Aparajita Dhara and Biswajit Chatterjee attempt to inves- tigatethetrendsanddeterminantsofnon-farmemploymentamongwomeninrural India. As the share of agriculture in gross domestic product (GDP) decreases with economicgrowth,sodoesitsshareinemployment.Overtimethisleadstoashiftin the rural occupational structure towards different non-agricultural and non-farm activities. A vibrant rural non-farm sector has the potential of reducing disguised unemploymentinagriculture,forced-migrationtowardsurbancentres,ruralpoverty andruralincomeinequality.However,theextentofitssuccessdependsonwhether such livelihood diversification is driven by growth-related ‘pull’ factors or distress-driven ‘push’ factors. Based on data from the quinquennial surveys on ‘Employment and Unemployment Situation in India’ carried out by the National Sample Survey Office and other official sources, the chapter analyzes the deter- minants of non-farm employment among the female workforce in rural India, segregated by industrial subsectors and employment status, during the two post-reform decades from 1990 to 2010. The results point towards some existence ofdistressfactorsandmuchregion-specificheterogeneityinthedynamicsinvolved. In the chapter “Efficiency and Mission Drift—Debate Revisited in Indian Context”, Chandralekha Ghosh and Samapti Guha highlight twin objectives of microfinance institutions (MFIs), serving the poorest clients and becoming finan- cially self-reliant. This chapter examines the technical efficiencies and cost effi- cienciesofMFIsinIndiancontextusingstochasticfrontieranalysistogetanideaof mission drift mainly by studying therelationship of efficiencies on a percentage of woman borrowers and the average size of the loan. The authors have obtained efficiencies of 86 Indian MFIs for the period 2010 to 2014. It was observed that if theloansizeincreases,bothtechnicalandcostefficienciesareincreased,whichisa case of mission drift. The experienced MFIs and the MFIs who own the assets achieveboththeefficiencies.TheincreaseinloansizeestablishesthefactthatMFIs whogainefficiencyregardingoperationaredivertingtheirobjectiveofservingpoor clients. In the chapter titled “Microfinance and Human Development: A Cross- Generation Study”, Arijita Dutta and Sharmistha Banerjee assess the impact of microfinance on education and career choice of the second generation of microfi- nanceusers,daughtersanddaughters-in-law,comparedtotheoriginalmicrofinance borrowers and non-borrowers. These strategic life choices normally include their children’sschoolingandeducation,theirownhealthcareoptionsandabilitytoearn Preface xi and spend according to their will. This chapter aims to capture the impact of microfinance use by 1200 middle-aged women on the overall human development of women of their next generation.Using propensity score matching techniques of impactevaluation,thechapterrevealsthatamongthesecond-generationwomenof microfinance borrowers, neither education nor income-generating activities appear to be statistically higher compared to that of non-borrowing control groups. Thus, theimpactofmicrofinanceseemstofizzleoutwithoutsustainability,representinga sure sign of mission drift. In his chapter, Avijit Brahmachary investigates the challenges of financing women-owned businesses in India. The formal financial sector generally assumes thatprovidingsmallloansanddepositservicestothezero-collateral-basedunbanked people would be unprofitable because of the asymmetric information about the creditworthiness of the borrowers and due to the high transaction costs associated withthedeliveryofsmall-scalefinancialservices.InIndia,thesupplyoffinancefor such small businesses is very low; since these businesses mostly belong to the informal unorganized sector, they are hardly able to manage adequate suitable financefromformalsourcesfortheirsmallset-ups.MicrofinancethroughSHGsmay put some solution with respect to the supply offinance and protects these people fromtheusuriousmoneylenders.Inthischapter,theauthorattemptstoanalyzethe major problems of women-owned small businesses in India and the role of group-based microfinance to accelerate such businesses providing small finance. The study reveals that most women in India choose to set up a business as a professionjustduetothenecessityofthefamilyand,therefore,arenotwellprepared to face different social and financial problems related to it. Although the microfi- nance program along with different pro-poor financial initiatives has been initiated by the government and other private agencies from time to time to overcome such problems, thesupply ofsuch initiatives islaggingfar behind the total demand. In the chapter “Going Through the New Avenue of Life: A Study on Factors WorkingBehindEntrepreneurshipDevelopmentThroughSelf-HelpGroup”,Kallol Dasinvestigatesthefactorsworkingbehindentrepreneurshipdevelopmentthrough an SHG. Development of the society is directly related to the income-generation capacity of its members. Women’s entrepreneurship contributes to the economic well-being of the family and communities. The number of women enterprises has grown over a period through SHGs, thus empowering women and enhancing their positioninsociety.Itisanimportantmechanismofgrassrootsprogramsthattriesto bringpositivechangebyworkingdirectlywithpoorwomen.Thischapterdiscusses some important factors working behind the successful running of microen- trepreneurial activities and investigates the reasons for which other SHGs are unable to run their business. The chapter also shows how SHGs help women change their life in a positive manner through microentrepreneurial activities. Inthechaptertitled“AccesstoFinance,Entrepreneurship,andEmpowerment:A Case Study”, Sudipto Ghosh and Chiranjib Neogi provide a detailed investigation on the effect of women empowerment on the control of resources and decision making.Accesstomicrocredithasledtotransformationinthesocialrecognitionof women’sdomesticlabour force.Thebasicobjectiveofthischapteristoassessthe

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This book offers a critical perspective on the issues related to women’s empowerment, microfinance, and entrepreneurship in India. Written by distinguishing experts in this field, this book highlights women’s empowerment, which is a process of entrusting power to an individual on the control ove
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