Political empowerment of women and financial inclusion: Is there a link?

Abstract

Employing survey data, the study investigates the impact of women political empowerment in India on their financial inclusion. The findings show that such political empowerment improves account activity by nearly 7%. In addition, increased convenience in using accounts raises account activity by another 0.5%. The analysis also identifies the channels through which such empowerment raises account activity. The analysis suggests the need for policies that are better tailored to address this gender gap in order to ensure financial inclusion in a holistic manner.