Abstract: Policy makers, particularly in developing countries, view entrepreneurship as a stepping stone for achieving women’s economic empowerment. However, simply attaching women to the labour market and providing them access to financial resources may not transform their economic well-being unless it is accompanied by agencies such as financial literacy and entrepreneurial orientation. In this context, we empirically test the seminal theoretical framework of Kabeer (1999) for understanding women empowerment, using primary data for 820 Indian rural women entrepreneurs. Employing alternate empirical specifications and using instrumental variable regression to address the potential endogeneity of financial literacy, we find that financial literacy and entrepreneurial orientation play important roles in enhancing financial well-being, our measure of economic empowerment. The results hold even after controlling for the experience of the entrepreneur, family support and strength of social network. The findings call for designing interventions to foster financial literacy among poor women entrepreneurs.
Speaker Bio-sketch: Dr Ashish Desai is a faculty member at SPJIMR and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). With over 30 years of experience across South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, he has developed and expanded technology-based financial services businesses, including digital banking, microfinance, livelihoods, and digital public infrastructure. He also previously held the role of Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at NITI Aayog’s Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO). His research focuses on digital financial literacy, women’s entrepreneurship and livelihoods, digital public infrastructure, alternative data, remote sensing for public policy, and technology governance. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Oxford Development Studies, Information Systems Frontiers, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Applied Economics, and the International Journal of Public Administration, among others. He has served as a guest editor for special issues of the International Journal of Public Administration and Public Administration and Policy. Dr. Desai earned an Engineering degree from VJTI Mumbai, an MMS from JBIMS, and a PhD from IIM Kozhikode.