Self-help Groups and their impact on intra-household dynamics in South Asia

The study aims to bridge the gap in understanding of the impact of microfinance initiative on women empowerment through factoring the dimension of intra-household decision-making mechanisms present in different domains of the household. The data is a part of the study that was conducted by Hoffmann et al. (2017) in order to assess the impact of Jeevika Scheme of microfinancing groups and their impact on various dimensions of lives of the rural poor in the state of Bihar (India). The study concluded unclear impacts of the scheme on the women empowerment metrics. This thesis aimed t engage with a concerted literature of microfinance, intra-household resource allocations and women empowerment to see if the inclusion of intra-household bargaining dynamics can demistify the picture a little more. For this, a Probit instrumental regression was conducted and disaggregated impacts of the scheme on bargaining power of women in separate domains of the household decision-making were uncovered and studied. The study concludes that women bargaining power in a household did transform through the policy treatment. However, it each part of the household reacted in its own way. Hence, the composite indices used by previous studies might have failed to capture the internal heterogeneity of the household. The study concludes by outlining the socio-economic factors that might be in play and giving direction for the future academic ventures on this theme.