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Is there a Convergence or Divergence between Feminist Empowerment and Microfinance Institutions' Success Indicators?
Author(s) -
Haile Hirut B.,
Osman Intan,
Shuib Rashidah,
Oon Siti Waringin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3041
Subject(s) - microfinance , empowerment , loan , earnings , divergence (linguistics) , business , asset (computer security) , entrepreneurship , convergence (economics) , demographic economics , economics , labour economics , economic growth , finance , linguistics , philosophy , computer security , computer science
This study examines whether female borrowers categorised as ‘successful’ by two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Malaysia experience greater empowerment as measured by decision‐making over loan use and enterprise earnings, enterprise management, asset ownership and motivation. The study is based on in‐depth interviews with 20 female borrowers. Results show that most of the borrowers are empowered. However, it is inconclusive whether economic empowerment achieved by borrowers could be entirely attributed to the services of the studied MFIs, given the prevalence of cross‐borrowing. Furthermore, some female borrowers labelled as ‘successful’ do not meet the MFIs' or feminist standards of success or empowerment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.