Does microfinance alleviate poverty and inequality? Studying self-help groups in Bodoland, Assam

Maity, Shrabanti; Sarania, Rahul

doi:10.1080/09614524.2017.1355353

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…To explore the objectives, we need two groups, viz., the treated and the control groups. As per the AIMS Guidelines, the control group is constituted to reflect the socio-economically comparable group to remove biases while estimating the programme impact [ 23 , 24 ]. The treatment group comprises those SHG participants who received the benefits of the SHG loan at least two years before the survey.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self help groups, microfinance, financial inclusion and social exclusion: Insight from Assam

Maity

2023

Heliyon

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self help groups, microfinance, financial inclusion and social exclusion: Insight from Assam

Maity

2023

Heliyon

Self Cite

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“…The findings of the study confirmed significant improvement in the income and employment levels of participants after joining SHGs. Hence, the government should try to encourage a greater proportion of poor households to participate in these programs through extension, awareness, and training activities (Arora and Meenu, 2012; Maity and Sarania, 2017). To have more inclusive growth by covering economically weaker sections of the society, the government should provide some consumption loans to the below‐poverty‐line women, so that they can have self‐sufficiency before starting entrepreneurship ventures.…”

Section: Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brook, Hillyer, and Bhuvaneshwari (2008) studied community mobilisation and microfinance initiatives of various SHGs established by two non‐government organizations (NGOs) from 2001 to 2004 and noticed an increase in household savings by 647 per cent and movement of participants above the state poverty level. Likewise, Maity and Sarania (2017) found a significant and positive impact on the financial inclusion level, monthly income, and employment days for the SHG program participants who availed microfinance under the government‐sponsored SHG–bank linkage program (SBLP) of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in India. Brody et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of microcredit on income and employment of self‐help group members in Punjab: Does credit size matter?

Kapila¹,

Kalia

2022

Int Social Sci J

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This study evaluates the impact of microcredit on the income and employment level of participants before and after joining self‐help groups (SHGs) and variations based on the size of microcredit. Data was solicited from 318 SHG members using multistage random sampling. The mean value of income and employment of SHG members before and after joining SHGs were compared by using t‐statistics. The logistic regression technique was used to ascertain whether the income and employment level of SHG members varies significantly with the size of microcredit. We found significant improvement in the income and employment levels of participants after joining SHGs. The results of the logistic regression model revealed that the probabilities of members earning an income of more than 3,000 Indian Rupees (INR) per month and having employment of more than 180 days were very high among large borrowers as compared to small borrowers.

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“…Social scientists have applied the social capital framework in socioeconomic policy research (Woolcock, 1998, 2001; Krishna, 2006) and acknowledged the benevolent intent of the microfinance intervention to create social capital that enables the poor communities to raise their capacity to access credit and improve savings (Feigenberg et al , 2010; Postelnicu and Hermes, 2018). However, another group of scholars questions the depth of such empowerment within the SHGs (Banerjee and Jackson, 2017; Bateman, 2012; Maity and Sarania, 2017; Pal, 2012; Sanyal, 2009). In other words, they point out potential hierarchy and unequal access of social capital existing within the SHG members by their social categories, which may be overshadowed by the overall promises and expected benefits of SHGs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social inequality and access to social capital in microfinance interventions

Singh

Lee

2020

IJSSP

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the inequality perpetuated through social categories in accessing the social capital generated through the microfinance interventions in India as the country has pronounced economic inequality by social categories like many developing stratified societies.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses survey data collected from 75 villages in rural India and tests whether the formation and maximization of social capital through self-help groups (SHGs) is dominated by social categories, e.g. high-caste groups, males and superior occupation classes. Using logistic regression framework, the study assesses the formation and maximization of social capital through multiple SHG membership.FindingsThe paper finds that the microfinance approach of empowering weaker sections is considerably limited in its success, in the sense that it provides them with the opportunity to the credit access and support through SHGs. But, the empirical model further indicates that social capital in form of these SHGs may fall prey to the dominant social categories, and thus, these institutions may potentially enhance inequality.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is derived from the secondary data set, so it is unable to comment field reality qualitatively.Practical implicationsMicrofinance policy makers will have an improved understanding of inherent social inequalities while implementing group-based programs in socially stratified societies.Originality/valueSocial capital, if treated as an outcome accumulated in form of groups, provides with an important framework to assess the unequal access through the microfinance interventions. Overlooking the inherent unequal access will deceive the purpose of social justice in the group-based interventions. The microfinance and other welfare policies engaged in group formation and generating the social capital need to be more sensitive to the disadvantageous sections while focusing on multiple group access by disadvantaged social groups.

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Does microfinance alleviate poverty and inequality? Studying self-help groups in Bodoland, Assam

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Self help groups, microfinance, financial inclusion and social exclusion: Insight from Assam

Self help groups, microfinance, financial inclusion and social exclusion: Insight from Assam

Impact of microcredit on income and employment of self‐help group members in Punjab: Does credit size matter?

Social inequality and access to social capital in microfinance interventions

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