Women in rural India suffer from pervasive gender inequality and disempowerment. One road to equality is economic empowerment through microfinance. Economic empowerment consists of an increase in savings, income, ownership of property or a microenterprise, and access to social services and training. I compile studies of two most common types of microfinance models used in India in order to determine if there is a general trend indicating that microfinance as a whole has a positive impact on women’s economic empowerment. The two types of microfinance examined are Grameen-model microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Self-Help groups (SHGs) through the SHG-Bank linkage model. I find that almost all of the studies conclude that both types of models significantly contribute to an increase in women’s income and savings. However, the studies found that SHGs are generally more effective at increasing women’s access to training, social services, market information and control over their microenterprises. As a result, I recommend that Grameen-model MFIs adopt the SHG into their own models in order
","abstract_html":"<p>Women in rural India suffer from pervasive gender inequality and disempowerment. One road to equality is economic empowerment through microfinance. Economic empowerment consists of an increase in savings, income, ownership of property or a microenterprise, and access to social services and training. I compile studies of two most common types of microfinance models used in India in order to determine if there is a general trend indicating that microfinance as a whole has a positive impact on women’s economic empowerment. The two types of microfinance examined are Grameen-model microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Self-Help groups (SHGs) through the SHG-Bank linkage model. I find that almost all of the studies conclude that both types of models significantly contribute to an increase in women’s income and savings. However, the studies found that SHGs are generally more effective at increasing women’s access to training, social services, market information and control over their microenterprises. As a result, I recommend that Grameen-model MFIs adopt the SHG into their own models in order</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Weaver, Forrest"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"International Relations","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jean Krasno","Jeffrey Kucik"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:08Z","subjects":["Microfinance","India","women","International Relations","Political Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/599","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jean Krasno","Jeffrey Kucik"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Weaver, Forrest"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-08-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["International Relations"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Microfinance","India","women","International Relations","Political Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/599"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Women in rural India suffer from pervasive gender inequality and disempowerment. One road to equality is economic empowerment through microfinance. Economic empowerment consists of an increase in savings, income, ownership of property or a microenterprise, and access to social services and training. I compile studies of two most common types of microfinance models used in India in order to determine if there is a general trend indicating that microfinance as a whole has a positive impact on women’s economic empowerment. The two types of microfinance examined are Grameen-model microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Self-Help groups (SHGs) through the SHG-Bank linkage model. I find that almost all of the studies conclude that both types of models significantly contribute to an increase in women’s income and savings. However, the studies found that SHGs are generally more effective at increasing women’s access to training, social services, market information and control over their microenterprises. As a result, I recommend that Grameen-model MFIs adopt the SHG into their own models in order
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effects of Grameen-Model Microfinance Institutions and Self-Help Group Microfinance on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Rural India"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jean Krasno","Jeffrey Kucik"],"dc:creator":["Weaver, Forrest"],"dc:date.available":["2016-08-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Women in rural India suffer from pervasive gender inequality and disempowerment. One road to equality is economic empowerment through microfinance. Economic empowerment consists of an increase in savings, income, ownership of property or a microenterprise, and access to social services and training. I compile studies of two most common types of microfinance models used in India in order to determine if there is a general trend indicating that microfinance as a whole has a positive impact on women’s economic empowerment. The two types of microfinance examined are Grameen-model microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Self-Help groups (SHGs) through the SHG-Bank linkage model. I find that almost all of the studies conclude that both types of models significantly contribute to an increase in women’s income and savings. However, the studies found that SHGs are generally more effective at increasing women’s access to training, social services, market information and control over their microenterprises. As a result, I recommend that Grameen-model MFIs adopt the SHG into their own models in order
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/599"],"dc:subject":["Microfinance","India","women","International Relations","Political Science"],"dc:title":["The Effects of Grameen-Model Microfinance Institutions and Self-Help Group Microfinance on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Rural India"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["International Relations"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of International Affairs (M.I.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:08Z"}