Social and economic empowerment of women through financial inclusion: empirical evidence from India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukesh Pal ◽  
Hemant Gupta ◽  
Yogesh C. Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Women Empowerment ◽  
Bank Account ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
The Impact

PurposeWomen empowerment becomes an important policy discussion in development economics and modernization theory. The empowerment of women can lead to an increase in the quality viz-a-viz the capacity of human resources accessible for economic development. The purpose of this study is to evidence the impact of social and economic dimensions on women empowerment through financial inclusion in rural India.Design/methodology/approachTo reveal the research objective, the study has utilized a primary survey of women respondents from the Gujarat state of India by a simple random sampling method and applied a logistic regression approach to identify the relationship between the need of a bank account (determinant of financial inclusion) as a dependent variable and social and economic dimensions of women empowerment such as earning status, participation in financial decision-making, recipient of social welfare schemes and perception towards the safety of saving as independent variables.FindingsThe results of this study show that earning status, participation in financial decision-making at household level and recipient of social welfare schemes by women have a significant impact on women empowerment through financial inclusion; however, safety of their savings is observed as an insignificant variable, yet the odd value is very high (2.437) in the present study.Originality/valueThe present study is the first of its kind to examine the social and economic status of women and its impact on their requirement of a formal bank account for the overall empowerment of women in rural India.

scholarly journals The impact of stress on financial decision-making varies as a function of depression and anxiety symptoms

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver J Robinson ◽  
Rebecca Bond ◽  
Jonathan P Roiser
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Individual Vulnerability ◽  
Mood And Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Stress can precipitate the onset of mood and anxiety disorders. This may occur, at least in part, via a modulatory effect of stress on decision-making. Some individuals are, however, more resilient to the effects of stress than others. The mechanisms underlying such vulnerability differences are nevertheless unknown. In this study we attempted to begin quantifying individual differences in vulnerability by exploring the effect of experimentally induced stress on decision-making. Threat of unpredictable shock was used to induce stress in healthy volunteers (N=47) using a within-subjects, within-session design, and its impact on a financial decision-making task (the Iowa Gambling Task) was assessed alongside anxious and depressive symptomatology. As expected, participants learned to select advantageous decks and avoid disadvantageous decks. Importantly, we found that stress provoked a pattern of harm-avoidant behaviour (decreased selection of disadvantageous decks) in individuals with low levels of trait anxiety. By contrast, individuals with high trait anxiety demonstrated the opposite pattern: stress-induced risk-seeking (increased selection of disadvantageous decks). These contrasting influences of stress depending on mood and anxiety symptoms might provide insight into vulnerability to common mental illness. In particular, we speculate that those who adopt a more harm-avoidant strategy may be better able to regulate their exposure to further environmental stress, reducing their susceptibility to mood and anxiety disorders. The threat of shock paradigm we employed might therefore hold promise as a ‘stress-test’ for determining individual vulnerability to mood and anxiety disorders.

Skills and household financial decision-making in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1433-1450
Author(s):  
Arief Wibisono Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Household Decision ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Household Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision

PurposeThis study examines whether financial literacy is a relevant factor that determines authority in household financial decision-making, an area that is often viewed as boring, difficult and full of uncertainties. Cognitive ability and personality traits are also included as additional explanatory variables.Design/methodology/approachThe logistic regression technique was applied using a sample of more than 2,300 microfinance institutions' clients in three provinces in Indonesia.FindingsThis study finds that financial literacy correlates positively with authority in household financial decision-making only among men. This does not mean that financial literacy is irrelevant for women's agency, since the skill might be important for authorities in other decision-making areas, including those outside households. Meanwhile, the relationship between cognitive ability and household financial decision-making authority is more universal.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not collect information on the levels of financial literacy of other household members and does not capture respondents' perceptions of household financial decision-making.Social implicationsThe overall low level of financial literacy calls for the need for more targeted efforts to address this issue by policymakers. Education policy should also be designed to improve cognitive ability, as this ability is important for human agency and well-being.Originality/valueHousehold decision-making has received significant attention in the literature. Authority in household decision-making is important because it represents a person's agency and has a profound impact on well-being. To the best of author's knowledge, studies on the importance of skills in household financial decision-making are very limited.

Attitude for inclusive finance: influence of owner-managers’ and firms’ characteristics on SMEs financial decision making

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabia Rasheed ◽  
Sulaman Hafeez Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The adoption and use of financial services by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are pivotal in the development of inclusive financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of attitude on financial decision making of SMEs owner-manager. The attitude of SMEs owner-manager comprises of several factors; however, current study identifies few critical factors such as motivation, awareness and risk in the context of Pakistan. The study also includes the personal and firm characteristics as moderating variables to examine their effect on the relationship between attitude and financial decision making of owner-managers. Design/methodology/approach With the help of a structured questionnaire, total 285 valid responses are analyzed to accomplish the research objectives. The study uses SPSS and partial least square-structural equation modeling techniques in order to conduct analysis. The results of study highlight the importance of attitudinal factors such as awareness and risk. Moreover, the moderating effect of personal characteristics on the relationship between attitude and financial decision making has been found strong instead of firm characteristics. Findings The results show that the low awareness level of owner-managers regarding financial products and procedures significantly affects their attitude. Moreover, the less knowledge of financing terms as well as dominant role of owner-managers in taking firm decisions also increase the negative effect of risk factor on SMEs owner-manager attitude. Research limitations/implications The study suggested that policy makers should focus on the financial awareness of SMEs owner-manager to reduce the negativity of risk factor. Originality/value The study contributes toward the literature of inclusive finance and sustainability studies through better understanding of financial decision making of SMEs in emerging economies.

Entrepreneurship development and financial literacy in Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Habib Auwal Abubakar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Access To Finance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurship Development ◽  
Financial Decision Making ◽  
Financial Decision

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of financial literacy in Africa based on previous studies and evidence from financial literacy surveys, with the aim of establishing how financial literacy impacts entrepreneurship development in Africa. The study specifically looks at how financial literacy affects the household behaviour regarding financial decision making, as well as the gender gap in financial literacy. As financial literacy is gaining momentum both in developed economies with sophisticated financial systems and developing countries with low levels of financial services, this research seeks to establish a formal relationship between financial literacy and access to finance and what impact both have for developing an entrepreneurship society in Africa. It also focuses on the relationship between financial decision making and gender as well as access to finance with the aim of carefully examining the implications on entrepreneurship development. Design/methodology/approach – To attain the above objective, the study employed a mixed methodology research design where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A survey method on financial literacy, conducted by: (Finscope, OECD) was thoroughly analysed in addition to previous work on entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, access to finance and poverty reduction in Africa. Findings – The results show that the difficulties in access to finance, access to market, policy support and entrepreneurship culture are the main problems and constraints on entrepreneurship development in Africa which has a very strong implication for financial literacy on the continent particularly on micro, small and medium enterprises. Other important problems include unfavorable investment climate, absence of entrepreneurship training programmes, unfriendly investment business environment, gender gap and lack of value chain in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to the established survey and mainly concentrates on Africa. Practical implications – African governments and other development partners should re-evaluate their intervention programmes to strengthen financial literacy skills while simultaneously supporting entrepreneurship development by promoting an entrepreneurship culture through the right policy that will actively stimulate the development of entrepreneurs that will contribute to entrepreneurship ecosystems and ultimately enhance Africa’s economic development. Originality/value – This paper aims at enhancing understanding of entrepreneurship development and financial literacy in Africa and will help policy makers and researcher fill the missing gap between financial literacy and entrepreneurship education. The recommendations made could significantly boost entrepreneurship activities as well as enhance financial literacy skills in the region, which can as well help increase access to finance on the continent.

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