In this study, we construct original measures of women's empowerment in economic, social, and interpersonal dimensions to estimate the effect of microcredit on women's empowerment in Djibouti. Using survey data covering 2060 Djiboutian households, we examine the extent to which access to microcredit, the amount of loans obtained, and their duration modify women's status at home. We employ an instrumental variables strategy and develop three instruments: (i) household's membership of a saving and credit cooperative, (ii) the availability of formal banks at the village or community level, and (iii) the availability of formal cooperatives at the village or community level. We find that microcredit has positive and significant effects on women's autonomy, but these effects become significantly negative as the number of loans taken out increases and as the length of time spent in the program rises. Women from households with access to micro-loans are respectively 45.0%, 41.4%, and 15.7% more likely to be economically, socially, and interpersonally empowered. The results of the study are robust across specifications and econometric techniques employed and confirm the generally mixed socioeconomic effects of microcredit programs.

中文翻译：

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吉布提通过小额信贷赋予妇女权力

在这项研究中，我们构建了经济、社会和人际维度上妇女赋权的原始衡量标准，以评估小额信贷对吉布提妇女赋权的影响。我们利用涵盖 2060 个吉布提家庭的调查数据，研究了获得小额信贷的机会、获得的贷款金额及其期限对妇女家庭地位的影响程度。我们采用工具变量策略并开发三种工具：（i）家庭储蓄和信用合作社的成员资格，（ii）村庄或社区一级正规银行的可用性，以及（iii）村庄正规合作社的可用性或社区层面。我们发现小额信贷对妇女的自主权具有积极而显着的影响，但随着贷款数量的增加和参与该计划的时间的增加，这些影响变得显着负面。能够获得小额贷款的家庭中的女性在经济、社会和人际关系方面获得权力的可能性分别高出 45.0%、41.4% 和 15.7%。该研究的结果在所采用的规范和计量经济学技术方面都是稳健的，并证实了小额信贷计划总体上混合的社会经济影响。