Paper short abstract:

We use network data collected as part of the 2016 Socioeconomic Profile of Rural India (SEPRI) survey. We focus on the networks of women and examine the role of network structure in determining the number of dimensions over which women take decisions within the household

Paper long abstract:

We use network data collected as part of the 2016 Socioeconomic Profile of Rural India (SEPRI) survey. It contains data for 214,338 adult members from 89,398 households spread across 192 villages of 14 states where each member is asked to mention 4 others from the village from whom they could borrow Rs 10,000. We first document how women's and men's networks differ from each other. In particular, we focus on network overlap and clustering. Overlap is defined for a husband and wife if they name the same household as a source of loan. We find that overlaps occur in 19,223 households providing sufficient variation for examining its impact on the extent and the depth of women's agency within the household. Clustering measures whether two people named as friends are themselves friends of each other.

Our primary goal is to examine the role of network structure in determining the number of dimensions over which women take decisions within the household. We merge the member-level data with household-level information that includes identifiers on a variety of measures such as income, education level, jati grouping, participation in local governance and workfare programs - to name a few. We use information from the male and female networks to see if there are any differences in social capital which drive a woman's empowerment as measured by her decision making ability within the household.

Paper short abstract:

Using gameplay, we map the strength of within-in group networks and significant external networks for members of microcredit groups in rural India. We use this data to test the theoretical result that strength of social ties matters for contract enforcement in group-lending.

Paper long abstract:

We examine if strength of the networks among members of borrower groups matters for contract enforcement in microcredit schemes. We use gameplay with members of the microcredit groups to map in detail the strength of the actual within group ties as well as map significant external networks. This enables us to construct a social ties index for the group and a measure for the strength of each group member’s within-group and external connections. We then collect data on actual and potential defaults that the group experienced and note the action taken by the leader/committee in each case.

For 79 microcredit groups in rural Telangana India, we record the actions taken in 268 potential/actual default cases. We find that strong networks help with contract enforcement, but not always via sanctions. Strong groups may enforce contract by being supportive, which is likely to enhance the shared social capital of the group. Further, we find that the leader's ability to enforce contract is positively related to her social ties but negatively related to the ties of the defaulting member. This result is especially strong for member’s external networks. External validation for our results comes from an independent evaluation of groups by bank managers, who tend to rank groups with strong networks as more successful when compared to groups with weaker networks. Our results indicate that strong within group networks matters for contract enforcement in microcredit schemes and choosing a leader with the strongest overall social ties may matter for the success of joint liability.

Paper short abstract:

This research investigates networks of female entrepreneurs in African agribusiness. Focusing on the VALUE4Her Initiative from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, it offers new perspectives to enrich our understanding of empowerment for development outcomes.

Paper long abstract:

Agriculture is back on the development agenda. Governments and other donors have responded to the need to meet growing demands for food and the desire to drive economic growth by increasing investment in agribusiness.

Nowhere is this more visible than on the African continent, where the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) seeks to boost incomes for smallholders and reduce food insecurity across the continent. Inclusivity is a key focus area of AGRA's five-year strategy, especially in relation to gender equality. It remains unclear, however, the extent to which these visions of inclusivity are reflected in development practice.

This research focuses on the VALUE4HER Initiative: AGRA's programme for strengthening women's agribusiness enterprises. The Initiative's virtual platform connects women in agriculture, offering networking and learning opportunities. The Initiative offers a lens through which to ask: What role do networks play in strengthening women's agribusiness enterprises?

To try and answer this question, the research uses qualitative methods to investigate the experiences of women who have been involved with the Initiative across its eleven focus countries.

The findings challenge previously held assumptions about agriculture for development. First, the importance of women's networks contest notions of the rational self-interested entrepreneur. Participants highlight the importance of collaboration, mentorship, and role modelling for overcoming the barriers women face. Second, women's experiences of networks offer new perspectives for theorising empowerment in a more relational and collective way. Overall, this research aims to inform more inclusive approaches to gender in agricultural development policy.

Paper short abstract:

The paper presents evidence on whether we can intentionally create social networks among extreme poor women that result in formation of social capital. we found a positive impact of targeted interventions in creating heterophyllous interactions, weak social ties and multidimensional social capital.

Paper long abstract:

Rural social networks can facilitate access to various social resources for women. These social resources work as social capital and equip women to resist shocks and achieve different development outcomes. However, a fundamental question in social capital research remains whether we can intentionally create social networks that help to form social capital among targeted participants. We aim to answer this research question by focusing on the formation process of social capital among extreme poor women. Our study setting is based on rural areas of Bangladesh. Following a network approach, we conceptualize social capital at the individual level. We create a matched treatment and control sample group using the Propensity score matching technique and evaluate whether targeted interventions can create social capital among extreme poor women. We look into the formation process of social capital by examining types of interaction made to create social ties, the nature of social ties used to create social networks and the kinds of social capital created. We find positive evidence of creating social capital among extreme poor women through external interventions. Our analysis shows that interventions facilitate to make more heterophyllous interactions which result in the creation of more weak ties. At last, our findings indicate that it is easier to create the volume of social capital than the quality of it among extreme poor women. Overall, it is a significant finding as it shows that it is possible to create access to social resources through social networks, even among one of the most vulnerable.

Paper short abstract:

It examines microcredit's impact on women's entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. An IV technique is used for correcting endogeneity. Results indicate that microcredit has more positive effects on men's than women's entrepreneurship, but women borrowers tend to pass the loans to male household members.

Paper long abstract:

This paper intends to assess the impact of access to microcredit on women’s entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. The descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques have been used to achieve the objective of the paper. The study uses the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2010 dataset. The HIES 2010 survey covers 12,240 households from all districts in the country. Considering the endogeneity in the microcredit program participation of women, the study uses an instrumental variables technique (IV method) to assess the impact of access to microcredit on the entrepreneurial status of women. After adjustment for the endogeneity, the results from the multivariate analysis indicate that access to microcredit has a significant and positive impact on women’s entrepreneurship. It also has a significant and positive impact on men’s entrepreneurship and the marginal effects of access to microcredit are stronger on men’s entrepreneurship than on women’s entrepreneurship. The results also indicate that women borrowers handover their microcredit loans to adult male household members rather than using those loans by themselves.

Paper short abstract:

Women belonging to dairy cooperatives or faith groups in Gujarat have better access to social protection. This has resulted in improved food security for their households. These findings have implications for the achievement of SDGs related to social protection coverage.

Paper long abstract:

While several social protection instruments exist to improve the financial status and food security of vulnerable households, access to these instruments is often disparate. The study aimed to examine the impact of women's networks on the access to social protection for women in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Data was collected through 465 structured interviews with women from cattle-rearing households, and a multivariate analysis was performed. The key finding was that women who belong to networks such as women-led dairy cooperatives, bhajan mandlis, or savings groups have better access to social protection due to their increased bargaining power and access to information. Being part of a gender-based network provided women with a sense of solidarity and support, which helped them to advocate for their rights and claim entitlements. These networks also provided women with important information and resources related to social protection schemes and programs, which they may not have been aware of otherwise. Furthermore, the networks often served as a platform for collective action, allowing women to come together and demand their entitlements from the government and other institutions. This was particularly important in contexts where women may have faced barriers to accessing social protection due to their gender, class, or caste. A subsection of Sustainable Development Goal 1 is to increase the social protection coverage of the poor and vulnerable population. This study has implications towards the realization of that target by highlighting the important role that networks can play in improving access to social protection for women.

Paper short abstract:

This paper takes a non-traditional angle to the polarised rural-urban dichotomy by studying the effects of networks on labour force participation outcomes of women living in areas that fit neither the rural nor the urban profiling; the slums of Cairo.

Paper long abstract:

The MENA region has some of the lowest Female labour force participation (FLFP) rates in the world. The effect of unpaid care work as an explanatory variable has been rapidly gaining attention, highlighting that the opportunity cost of participating in the labour force is higher for women given their care responsibilities. Sociology literature also addresses the importance of social networks in allowing women to balance paid and unpaid work. While there is acknowledgment that this relationship differs between urban and rural women, the traditional polarised view of the rural-urban distinction leads populations that do not fit either profile to be excluded in research and consequently in policy design. A lot can be learnt about the relation between networks and women’s outcomes by investigating the gradients within traditional dichotomies. A good example of such populations are the slums of Cairo.

This paper analyses labour force surveys along with qualitative interviews to map networks and their effect on FLFP, a relation that’s difficult to determine accurately through numbers alone. We find that women living in urban slums face similar constraints to rural women (excluded from formal institutions, job opportunities and subject to greater unequal gender distribution of unpaid care work), but yet do not have access to the coping mechanisms of neither rural women (strong social network to rely on) nor urban women (quality care substitutes). This combination drives women to work in precarious daily-wage jobs to ensure flexibility to deal with care responsibilities, stressing the importance of social networks on FLFP.