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Paper short abstract

Using data from a cluster RCT among millet-growing women in Odisha, India, this paper examines whether empowerment is a pathway to entrepreneurship. We find that instrumental and collective agency, and overall empowerment mediate enterprise formation, even without significant empowerment gains

Paper long abstract

Empowering women and enhancing entrepreneurship within an agricultural setting are widely considered key drivers of rural development. With most studies focusing on mechanisms to enhance both, little effort is made to understand the extent to which empowerment is a pathway to entrepreneurship, the gap that the study aims to address. The study conceptualizes empowerment as a multidimensional process encompassing three domains of agency: intrinsic (power within), instrumental (power to), collective (power with), as well as overall empowerment, and measures these domains before and after a value chain training program. Using two waves of data from a cluster-randomised controlled trial in Odisha, India, designed to promote private and collective entrepreneurship among millet-growing women, we explore the relationship between empowerment and entrepreneurial engagement. Analysis of baseline data using multiple logistic regression reveals that instrumental agency was strongly associated with running a household enterprise, whereas collective agency was associated with running a female-owned enterprise. Using endline data, generalised structural equation models reveal that instrumental and collective agency mediate the establishment of small enterprises. The training program did not result in a statistically significant increase in women's empowerment, rather, it leveraged pre-existing levels of empowerment to promote entrepreneurship. These findings suggest that entrepreneurship-oriented developmental programs should integrate empowerment, with the focus on empowerment as a means rather than the main intended outcome.