Does Microfinance Enhance Gender Equity in Access to Finance? Evidence from Pakistan

Zulfiqar, Ghazal

doi:10.1080/13545701.2016.1193213

Cited by 40 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…There are social aspects that are broadly studied in the literature, and in turn considered by the MFIs: poor and low-income clients [69,72,73], women [45,49,74] and clients living in rural areas [52,68], among others, and the combination of them [39,46,75]. Measures of client poverty [39,76], increased access to financial services [77,78], poverty reduction [79,80], employment generation and the growth of existing businesses [81,82], and clear debt collection practices [83][84][85] are reported and also researched in all regions. There are also numerous contributions of articles with a combination of two or more issues [10].…”

Section: Convergences: Reported and Researchedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region

2020

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In the last few years, considerable attention has been paid to microfinance as a relevant participant in the formal financial system, whose target audience is people who are otherwise at risk of financial exclusion. In parallel, sustainability and the promotion of Sustainable Development (SD) are imposed as the theoretical frame when facing any study. This, connected with cultural and organizational dimensions theories, are the analytical framework for the analysis of the relationship between the context of performance in which Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) operate and their activity in promoting sustainability. A holistic approach is necessary to make operational these concepts; for that reason, financial, environmental, social and governance dimensions (FESG), and the balance among them, have to be considered. The main objective of the paper is to explore to what extent MFIs are fostering SD, and how this promotion is performed by region. For the analysis, two different sources of information have been studied: sectoral academic literature that focuses on the different sustainability dimensions, and MIX Market sustainability data obtained from the MFIs. A keyword analysis of the selected papers has been executed to be conscious of the most investigated aspects by region; on the data provided by the institutions, a Kruskal-Wallis H test has been performed to learn what the main Sustainability Indicators (SIs) are that are reported affirmatively. To obtain comprehensive research, a comparative study of the results offers the convergences, divergences and gaps of information in each of the regions. The findings show significant differences depending on the region, and confirm that operationalization should be adjusted at the regional context of the MFIs. The paper, with the inherent limitations due to data quality, also offers recommendations for the better promotion of sustainability in each of the regions.

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Section: Convergences: Reported and Researchedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region

2020

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“…Poor and working-class women supplement household earnings with informal loans to meet their routine and emergency needs. Contrary to the bold claim made by proponents of microcredit that credit is a basic right denied to poor women in the Global South, debt is a way of life in places where the welfare state does not exist (Zulfiqar 2017).…”

Section: Pawnbroking and Informal Finance In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 93%

Social reproduction, finance and the gendered dimensions of pawnbroking

Roberts¹,

Zulfiqar

2019

Capital & Class

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While the feminist literature on social reproduction is broad and diverse, one area that has remained relatively under-explored relates to the linkages between social reproduction and finance, particularly between social reproduction and household debt. In our contribution to this Special Issue, we seek to document and to analyse the structural linkages between social reproduction and debt, with a specific focus on pawnbroking in early modern England and contemporary Pakistan. We have four main aims in this article. Our first aim is to contribute to feminist theorizing about social reproduction by showing both how the daily and generational reproduction of households has relied upon historically specific forms of credit and how these social relations of credit/debt have been central to the development and reproduction of capitalism in different times and places. Second, we show how particular forms of ‘everyday finance’ are gendered and, specifically, how they are feminized. Our third aim is to elucidate the relationship between pawn loans, which have received almost no attention from feminist or other critical political economists, and the social reproduction of households in England and Pakistan. Fourth, we elucidate some of the gendered implications of the growing incursion of masculinized capitalist finance into new spaces of everyday life.

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“…4 More than two million poor women are loan takers of microfinance in the country. 12 As poor populations do not have the money to take out traditional health insurance, microfinancing for health insurance becomes the only option for them. However, small health insurance schemes have been severely criticised for their minimal impact on clients' lives due to their minimal coverage and the large burden of disease faced by poor populations.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of microfinance health interventions on health-related outcomes among female informal workers in Pakistan: a retrospective quasi-experimental study

et al. 2021

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ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to assess the impact of microfinance health interventions (health insurance and health-awareness programmes) on health-related outcomes among female informal workers in Pakistan.DesignWe conducted a retrospective, quasi-experimental study among a total of 442 female borrowers from seven microfinance providers (MFPs) across four provinces of Pakistan in 2018. A standardised tool was used for data collection. Probit regression was used to identify the probability of female borrowers gaining improvements in health outcomes based on their sociodemographic characteristics. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to assess the overall impact of health interventions.Primary outcome measuresFour health-related outcomes reported by the women were used: perception of good health overall, ability to visit a general practitioner, ability to purchase prescribed medicine and intake of multivitamins.ResultsWe found that women receiving health interventions had a greater probability of better health outcomes when they were from Punjab province, borrowing in groups and attending monthly meetings at MFPs. Even with a small loan amount, all four health-related outcomes were significantly associated with receiving health insurance and health-awareness programmes. PSM results show a greater likelihood of overall perceived good health (nearest neighbour matching (NNM) =17.4%; kernel matching (KM) =11.8%) when health insurance is provided and a significant improvement in the ability to purchase prescribed medicine when a health-awareness programme is provided (NNM=10.1%; KM=11.7%).ConclusionHealth and social policies are vital to secure health and well-being among poor women working in the informal sector. Targeting improved equity across female population groups for health interventions will in the long run improve poor women’s health, income-earning abilities and capacity expansion for small businesses.

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Does Microfinance Enhance Gender Equity in Access to Finance? Evidence from Pakistan

Cited by 40 publications

References 31 publications

Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region

Microfinance Institutions Fostering Sustainable Development by Region

Social reproduction, finance and the gendered dimensions of pawnbroking

Impact of microfinance health interventions on health-related outcomes among female informal workers in Pakistan: a retrospective quasi-experimental study

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