This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor force participation, and socioeconomic variables, such as age, marriage age, wages, education, and religion. My results indicate that microfinance was positively associated with incidences of domestic violence, especially among highly educated and wealthy women. Results also indicated that participants with daughters were more susceptible to violence. On the other hand, microfinance membership showed signs of reducing rates of IPV among participants living in villages, even when controlling for community attitudes towards domestic violence. Incidences of IPV also varied among different microfinance organizations. *
","abstract_html":"<p>This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor force participation, and socioeconomic variables, such as age, marriage age, wages, education, and religion. My results indicate that microfinance was positively associated with incidences of domestic violence, especially among highly educated and wealthy women. Results also indicated that participants with daughters were more susceptible to violence. On the other hand, microfinance membership showed signs of reducing rates of IPV among participants living in villages, even when controlling for community attitudes towards domestic violence. Incidences of IPV also varied among different microfinance organizations. *</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Christian, Alvin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (M.S.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["K. De Prabal","Kevin Forster"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:08Z","subjects":["Microfinance","IPV","Bangladesh","Behavioral Economics","Economics","Finance","Income Distribution","Political Economy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/585","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["K. De Prabal","Kevin Forster"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Christian, Alvin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-08-16T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (M.S.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Microfinance","IPV","Bangladesh","Behavioral Economics","Economics","Finance","Income Distribution","Political Economy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/585"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor force participation, and socioeconomic variables, such as age, marriage age, wages, education, and religion. My results indicate that microfinance was positively associated with incidences of domestic violence, especially among highly educated and wealthy women. Results also indicated that participants with daughters were more susceptible to violence. On the other hand, microfinance membership showed signs of reducing rates of IPV among participants living in villages, even when controlling for community attitudes towards domestic violence. Incidences of IPV also varied among different microfinance organizations. *
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"MICROFINANCE AS A DETERMINANT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH: WHO IS AT RISK?\""]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["K. De Prabal","Kevin Forster"],"dc:creator":["Christian, Alvin"],"dc:date.available":["2016-08-16T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor force participation, and socioeconomic variables, such as age, marriage age, wages, education, and religion. My results indicate that microfinance was positively associated with incidences of domestic violence, especially among highly educated and wealthy women. Results also indicated that participants with daughters were more susceptible to violence. On the other hand, microfinance membership showed signs of reducing rates of IPV among participants living in villages, even when controlling for community attitudes towards domestic violence. Incidences of IPV also varied among different microfinance organizations. *
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/585"],"dc:subject":["Microfinance","IPV","Bangladesh","Behavioral Economics","Economics","Finance","Income Distribution","Political Economy"],"dc:title":["\"MICROFINANCE AS A DETERMINANT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN BANGLADESH: WHO IS AT RISK?\""],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (M.S.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:08Z"}