Paper short abstract:

In the present study, a Women’s Capability Index (WCI) has been introduced by making use of a primary field survey in Assam. The focus of WCI is to demonstrate how female empowerment is constrained by limitations in the capability space. WCI is measured using the AF methodology of double cut-off (Alkire 2011).

Paper long abstract:

Economies are more likely to grow sustainably when men and women fully participate as employees, entrepreneurs, consumers, caregivers, community stakeholders, and leaders. Women, being half of the human population, bear critical significance in the development process and the consequential success or failure of nations. Closing the gap in well-being between males and females is as much a part of development as reducing income poverty. Gender equality enhances economic efficiency and improves other development outcomes. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2011), if women farmers have the same access as men to productive resources such as land and fertilizers, agricultural output in developing countries could increase by as much as 2.5 to 4 percent. There is evidence to demonstrate that resources in the hands of women can enhance production and productivity, promote human capital and capabilities within the household, and thus benefit the economy as a whole, both in the short and long term. As quoted in DFID (2013), in Burundi, if primary school dropouts (27% of girls) had completed primary school before going to work, they would have generated a lifetime income equivalent to nearly 25% of Burundi’s annual GDP. If 88% of girls who were not able to complete secondary school had been able to do so, their additional lifetime productivity would increase GDP by more than two thirds of their annual GDP . Beaman et al. (2011) highlighted that in India, giving power to women at the local level led to greater provision of public goods, such as water and sanitation, which mattered more to women.

In the present study, a Women’s Capability Index (WCI) has been introduced by making use of a primary field survey in Assam and incorporating qualitative issues. The traditional human development approaches have based from a macro perspective, where economic growth is an important indication for assessing development. The capability approach, as developed by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, assesses well-being in terms of people’s ability to function and whether they are provided with the real opportunities: the capabilities to function in ways that matter to them, so that they can choose the lives they have reason to value. Functionings are the beings and doings of a person—such as working, resting, or being healthy. Capabilities are the combinations of functionings that a person has the possibility of achieving (Sen, 1993: 31)—such as having the conditions for freedom of speech or having the conditions (hospitals, healthcare workers) to recover from an illness. So, capabilities are opportunities or freedoms to achieve what an individual reflectively considers valuable. Both Sen (1999) and Nussbaum (2000) stress the importance of looking into capabilities because one may have the capabilities but may not necessarily have the resources or social and political context to turn the capabilities into functionings. So, the approach makes interpersonal comparisons, scrutinises whether the circumstances in which people make choices are just, and pays attention to resources, economic growth, social cohesion, social institutions, and the availability of commodities and legal entitlements, stressing that these are means to well-being. Therefore, it is crucial to question to what extent people have genuine access rather than mere preferences to operationalize their capabilities. Sen’s elaborations (1984, 1987, 1993) on the “capability approach” have superior potential for developing a theory of gender inequality and furthering gender justice through empowerment. Capabilities correspond to the overall freedom to lead the life a person has reason to value.

The focus of WCI is to demonstrate how female empowerment is constrained by limitations in the capability space. Empowerment, here, refers broadly to the expansion of freedom of choice and action to shape one’s life. WCI is measured using the AF methodology of double cut-off (Alkire 2011). The basic information regarding the data used for WCI is mentioned in Table 1. The other details of the construction of WCI are given in Table 2. The data source used for the construction of WCI is the primary field survey data in all districts of Assam.

Table 1: Metadata

• Data source----Primary Survey in all 31 districts of Assam

• Sample size used for the WCI is 14875 women

• Both unit of identification and unit of analysis is individual

For measuring WCI, four dimensions of deprivation are chosen, which are further subdivided into 11 indicators. The deprivations in each indicator are similar to the poverty head count ratio (HCR), which divides the whole female population of Assam into two mutually exclusive groups of deprived or non-deprived in each indicator of WCI.

Table 2: Detail of WCI for Assam and all districts

1. Physical Strength Hygiene: Water and Sanitation (weight 1/8 ) and Diet & Immunity (weight 1/8)

2. Economic Security: these dimensions are applicable to adult women. Therefore, for girls less than 18 years of age, if at least one woman is not deprived then other women of less than 18 years age are also considered not deprived: Financial Autonomy (Weight 1/12), Financial Literacy (weight 1/12); Property Ownership (weight 1/12);

3. Social Relation : Literacy (weight 1/12); Freedom of Mobility (weight 1/12); Freedom of Expression (weight1/12)

4. Inner Wellbeing: in case of a girl less than 18 years if anyone in the family deprived in this dimension then other minor girls are also considered deprived: Dignity (Weight 1/12); Violence (weight 1/12); Sleep Deprivation (weight 1/12)