Can Women's Self-Help Groups Contribute to Sustainable Development? Evidence of Capability Changes from Northern India

55 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2019

See all articles by Paul Anand

Paul Anand

The Open University - Department of Economics; London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS); IZA; University of Oxford

Swati Saxena

Independent

Rolando Gonzalez

World Bank

Hai-Anh Dang

World Bank - Development Data Group (DECDG); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Indiana University Bloomington - School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA); Global Labor Organization (GLO); Vietnam National University Ha Noi

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Date Written: September 13, 2019

Abstract

This paper investigates a women's self-help group program with more than 1.5 million participants in one of the poorest rural areas of Northern India. The program has four streams of activity in micro-savings, agricultural enterprise training, health and nutrition education, and political participation. The paper considers whether there is any evidence that program membership is associated with quality of life improvement. Using new data on a variety of self-reported capability indicators from members and non-members, the paper estimates propensity score matching models and reports evidence of differences in some dimensions as well as significant benefits to those from the most disadvantaged groups?scheduled castes and tribes. The paper considers robustness and concludes that for some dimensions, there is evidence that the program has contributed to sustainable development through improvements in the quality of life.

Suggested Citation

Anand, Paul and Saxena, Swati and Gonzalez, Rolando and Dang, Hai-Anh H., Can Women's Self-Help Groups Contribute to Sustainable Development? Evidence of Capability Changes from Northern India (September 13, 2019). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 9011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3485892

Paul Anand (Contact Author)

The Open University - Department of Economics ( email )

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
United Kingdom

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS) ( email )

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IZA ( email )

University of Oxford ( email )

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Swati Saxena

Independent ( email )

Rolando Gonzalez

World Bank

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Hai-Anh H. Dang

World Bank - Development Data Group (DECDG) ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/haianhhdang/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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Indiana University Bloomington - School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA) ( email )

1315 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

Global Labor Organization (GLO) ( email )

Collogne
Germany

Vietnam National University Ha Noi ( email )

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