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Article
| World Development
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March 2010
Female Empowerment: Further Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
by
Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin
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Abstract
Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a randomized controlled trial, we examine whether access to and marketing of an individually held commitment savings product lead to an increase in female decision-making power within the household. We find positive impacts, particularly for women who have below median decision-making power in the baseline, and we find this leads to a shift toward female-oriented durable goods purchased in the household.
Keywords: Policy;
Microfinance;
Goals and Objectives;
Decision Making;
Welfare or Wellbeing;
Gender Characteristics;
Product;
Power and Influence;
Philippines;