Theoretical Underpinnings Of Gender, Finance And Development: A Critical Review

Abstract

Economies around the world have recorded tremendous advancement in their journey towards access to finance dimension of financial inclusion over these years. But women who constitute around fifty percent of the world population still lag much behind their counterparts in achieving the higher goals of financial inclusion particularly the usage of financial products and services. A persistent gender gap of 6% is visible while analyzing the Global Financial Inclusion Database (Global Findex,2021) data. The gender gap in financial access and usage aggravates economic inequity and underlines women's economic subservience. For instance, lack of accessibility to property and assets constraints women’s ability to pledge collateral such as land or livestock to obtain credit from formal financial institutions. The participation of women in the economic activities is far below their potential due to many socio-economic and cultural barriers. A deep-rooted historical reading of the gender dynamics evolved in the development discourse is vital for the policy makers to frame strategies to address such issues. The study investigates the interrelated roles of gender, finance, and development from a theoretical standpoint. A comprehensive review regarding the paradigm shifts happened in the domain of gender and development comprising of WID approach, WAD approach and GAD approach is also presented.