The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Social and Political Empowerment: Mediating Role of Economic Empowerment

Title

The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Social and Political Empowerment: Mediating Role of Economic Empowerment

Creator

Bhatia S.; Dawar G.

Description

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of financial inclusion on womens social and political empowerment through the mediation of economic empowerment. A multidimensional index is created, using methodology by UNDP, to measure financial inclusion. Womens empowerment is measured through economic, social, and political dimensions. The datacollected from 545 women in slums through a structured schedule on a 5-point Likert scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to measure the construct. Multivariate statistical techniques such as regression were used to test the relationship between financial inclusion and women empowerment. The findings underscore a discernibly modest representation of women attaining high financial inclusion in slum settings. It is essential to recognise the pivotal role of economic empowerment as a partial mediator within the intricate interplay linking financial inclusion to social and political empowerment.This investigation is grounded in an examination of urban slums but has the potential for broader applicability, encompassing rural regions and locales proximate to financial centers within metropolitan areas to formulate a comprehensive framework for the empowerment of women. The findings underscore the impact of socio-economic and politico-economic factors on the incorporation of marginalized communities into the formal financial system. The current investigation results have implications for policymakers in developing countries that can serve as a valuable resource to enhance womens participation in the formal financial system. 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Source

Journal of the Knowledge Economy

Date

2023-01-01

Publisher

Springer

Subject

Economic empowerment; Financial inclusion; Financial inclusion index; Slums; Women empowerment

Coverage

Bhatia S., Department of Management, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi, India, University School of Management and Entrepreneurship, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India; Dawar G., School of Business and Management, Christ (Deemed to Be University), Karnataka, Bangalore, India

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 18687865

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01621-1

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85178923156&doi=10.1007%2fs13132-023-01621-1&partnerID=40&md5=8fa7a09cdf14ea40f2b903d8f44c3f5e