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Begin New Search Topic Empowerment Publishing Institution Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)

1. Engaging Gender Equality in the Economic-Productive Sphere

Author:
Beatriz Muriel and Daniel Romero
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This study reviews the conceptual framework of the economic-productive sphere and of gender equality, the aim of which is to establish theoretical-practical lines allowing progress in engaging these two spheres. In this context, equality in opportunities and in rights can be harmonized, though equality of “responsibilities, resources and retribution” by gender are more difficult to reconcile. Also, women’s (economic) empowerment – seen as a way of promoting gender equality – possesses a degree of relation with the theory of growth and wellbeing when an individual has the role of consumer, for which “capabilities” are needed for selecting valuable “functionings”. However, when such a woman takes on the role of worker, producer or businesswoman, her seeking of a high level of economic-productive performance does not imply that she is empowered, nor does the latter imply the former; though there may be a positive correlation between the two. On this basis, economic-productive interventions may harmonize with equality of opportunities by gender.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Equality, Empowerment, Gender, and Well-Being
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Microfinance’s Impact on Education, Poverty, and Empowerment: A Case Study from the Bolivian Altiplano

Author:
Sarah Gibb
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This study explores the impact of microcredits on the economic, educational, and empowerment levels of women from the Bolivian high plains who had acquired microcredits for over three years. Primary research was carried out with the help of a major NGO dedicated solely to microcredits. One hundred in-depth personal interviews were conducted by the author in La Paz and El Alto from February to May 2007. This region was chosen because of the wide extent to which microcredits have been implemented there since the 1980s. The author also created a control group of women who had never taken out a microcredit loan. The study employs the use of an established poverty scorecard to measure poverty levels over time. Using a comparative approach that allows a comparison between the independent control group and the loan group, the study found that while the ownership of goods increased in the loan group, the benefits of microcredits on family educational attainment levels and empowerment were questionable. It is important to note that the vast majority of microcredit research does not use this type of independent control group.
Topic:
Development, Women, Microcredit, Empowerment, and Microfinance
Political Geography:
South America and Bolivia