Do Access to Finance, Technical Know-How, and Financial Literacy Offer Women Empowerment Through Women’s Entrepreneurial Development?

The motivation of the study is to gauge the effects of access to finance, technical know-how, and financial literacy on women’s empowerment through establishing women’s entrepreneurial development. A sample of 950 women-owned SMEs was considered, and structured questionnaires were sent from getting target responses. After careful assessment through the data cleansing procedure, it was found that only 795 responses are suitable for further investigation, implying the sample response rate for the study is 74.71%. The study implemented structural equation modeling and multivariate regression analysis for gauging the causal association that is direct and indirect effects of target variables. According to findings, a positive statistically significant linkage was revealed with women’s entrepreneurship sustainability and women empowerment. Furthermore, the mediating effects were also established for women’s empowerment. According to the study findings, it is suggested that for women entrepreneurship sustainability, effective policies surrounding financing accessibility, technical knowledge expansion, and financial understating have to be promulgated in the economy, which allows bringing women empowerment at large.

What Drives Eco-Design Innovations in European SMEs?

Building on the natural-resource-based view, and using a sample of 7,165 European SMEs, this chapter investigates the drivers of eco-design innovations among SMEs under three categories: (1) sustainability-oriented firm capabilities, (2) technological capabilities, and (3) access to finance. The findings reveal that sustainability-oriented capabilities achieved through investments into circular economy are the strongest driver of SMEs' eco-design innovations. Firms' technological capabilities are also found to boost their ability to adopt eco-design innovations. While equity finance increases the possibilities for SMEs to devote resources to eco-design, grant finance is interestingly observed to decrease such possibilities. The more traditionally used form of debt finance remains detached from eco-design implementations. The study contributes to a better understanding of how eco-design practices can be broadened within SMEs and highlights policy recommendations in this regard.

The effect of financial knowledge on firm performance

This research aims to know the effect of financial knowledge on firm performance; the role of financial behavior and access to finance as mediation and the role of financial risk attitude as moderation. The object of this research is the owner of small-medium enterprises, sector food and beverage in Malang. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire of 150 respondents. Data analysis of this research uses partial least square (PLS). The finding indicates that financial knowledge has a positive and significant effect on firm performance; financial behavior mediates the relationship of financial knowledge dan firm performance; while access to finance doesn’t mediate the relationship of financial knowledge with firm performance. This research also found that financial risk attitude weakens the relationship of financial knowledge with financial behavior.

Evaluating Agricultural Value Chains on CISS-F Framework

Technology, institutions and markets together drive agricultural value chains in becoming more competitive, inclusive, sustainable and scalable, and in improving access to finance. Institutions that focused on aggregating marginal and smallholders, empowering farmers with better bargaining power, inducing economies of scale and creating market linkages have been pivotal in the successful transformation of these sectors.

An Overview of FinTech in Bangladesh

How the future financial industry is going to be reshaped by technological innovations is now a concern. Financial technology (FinTech), a much-discussed topic around the globe, is changing the overall financial system. The trend is not an exception in developing countries like Bangladesh. In this chapter, the authors aim to explore the current state of FinTech in Bangladesh in light with the possible challenges for growth, opportunities, and future prospects. The growth of FinTech helps a large percentage of people to become banked or has given possible access to formal finance. For having access to finance, high rate of mobile phone penetration, smooth mobile internet access, and high cost of access to formal finance are some factors that have enhanced FinTech penetration in Bangladesh for the past few years. In line with the given prospects, there are problems too. Therefore, using an in-depth study, this research addresses those issues, provides recommendations, and looks for possible solutions for the smooth operation of FinTech in Bangladesh.

Demand for Financial Service in Capital Market of Nepal

Background: In the contemporary literature, access to finance is well spell-out as the key to development. The supply leading hypothesis asserts that financial deepening contributes to enhancing growth so, the growth of the financial market is regarded as an important infrastructure to influence saving and investment. The Government of Nepal opted for a policy ‘One person one bank account’ in its fiscal policy in 2018/19 (MOF, 2018). Aligning the policy, the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) launched the ‘one Nepali one D-mat account’ policy in 2018 to increase the access of the capital market throughout the country. The low-financial literacy base is a major constraint to develop the market, in the other, most of the rural population, still are not equipped with the capital market instrument. In, this background, there is an utmost need to examine the factors contributing the demand for the financial services. Objective: The primary objective of the study is to access the determinants of the demand for financial services in the capital market of Nepal, considering the supply leading hypothesis. Method: To examine the determinants of the demand for financial service, we employed the Ordinary Least Square method of regression analysis. The dependent variable employed in this study is the demand for financial services. Level of income, access to finance and financially active provinces have been taken as the independent variable along with the concerned district population. As well, the financial literacy program conducted by the capital market regulator is another major independent variable. Result: The demand following hypotheses asserts that financial literacy is the key to influence the demand for financial services. It is found that financial literacy programs conducted by the capital market regulator could not explain the demand for financial services in Nepal indicating the weak performance of the program conducted by SEBON. It is found that the number of BFIs, population and financially active provinces are highly significant with the demand for financial services indication the influential role of supply leading hypothesis. Conclusion: The study concludes that the variables selected to determine the demand for financial services in capital market are appropriate and most of them (population, per capita income, financially active provinces and access to financial services) are significant with the capital market of Nepal. It is observed that the financial literacy programs conducted by the capital market regulator have not contributed in enhancing demand of the financial services in the capital market of Nepal. Recommendation: The study is focused and based on the capital market of Nepal. Results obtained from this study could not replicate the same in the money market or insurance sector of Nepal. The findings of the study strongly recommend the regulatory body to evaluate and revise its financial literacy programs while in the meantime urge to focus on addressing demand-side inefficiencies in the long run. Originality: The research work is original and has not been published in other publications. As well, no financial support has been received for the study.

The influence of culture on ethnic women's use of microfinance for empowerment in Luang Namtha Province, Laos

<p>The empowerment of women is essential but remains challenging globally. It has been supported by microfinance projects, particularly in recent decades across poor countries. Yet the contribution of microfinance to women’s empowerment remains controversial given the complexity of empowerment itself. It is commonly acknowledged that empowerment starts from within individuals themselves. It is also acknowledged that culture plays a significant role in women’s empowerment. Despite these acknowledgements, the complexities remain unclear in the Lao context which is the target of this study. This study examines the contribution of microfinance to the empowerment of women in Laos with a focus on the elements of culture. It is based on a feminist perspective, with a focus on a personal empowerment conceptual framework which enables the core values of empowerment to be examined. The examination is undertaken by employing semistructured interviews and focus groups for data collection with three ethnic groups in northern Laos, namely Hmong, Khmu and Tai-Yuan, participating in the Access to Finance for the Poor (AFP) project. The results show that the approach of the AFP project tends to meet women’s practical needs rather than their strategic needs. This is because the project’s approach appears to be influenced by the national approach of Laos in which the provision of opportunities for women is emphasised. It is also because ethnic women’s participation in the project is driven by so many practical needs that it makes their strategic needs invisible. The results also revealed that the women’s strategic needs are diverse, due to their particular culture and traditions. The results showed several gaps in the empowerment of women in the country. If these gaps are to be closed, there is a need for efforts from many stakeholders, particularly in the education sector, as the gender agenda needs to be integrated into its national curriculum. Keywords: women’s empowerment, microfinance, village banks, culture, Laos</p>

The influence of culture on ethnic women's use of microfinance for empowerment in Luang Namtha Province, Laos

<p>The empowerment of women is essential but remains challenging globally. It has been supported by microfinance projects, particularly in recent decades across poor countries. Yet the contribution of microfinance to women’s empowerment remains controversial given the complexity of empowerment itself. It is commonly acknowledged that empowerment starts from within individuals themselves. It is also acknowledged that culture plays a significant role in women’s empowerment. Despite these acknowledgements, the complexities remain unclear in the Lao context which is the target of this study. This study examines the contribution of microfinance to the empowerment of women in Laos with a focus on the elements of culture. It is based on a feminist perspective, with a focus on a personal empowerment conceptual framework which enables the core values of empowerment to be examined. The examination is undertaken by employing semistructured interviews and focus groups for data collection with three ethnic groups in northern Laos, namely Hmong, Khmu and Tai-Yuan, participating in the Access to Finance for the Poor (AFP) project. The results show that the approach of the AFP project tends to meet women’s practical needs rather than their strategic needs. This is because the project’s approach appears to be influenced by the national approach of Laos in which the provision of opportunities for women is emphasised. It is also because ethnic women’s participation in the project is driven by so many practical needs that it makes their strategic needs invisible. The results also revealed that the women’s strategic needs are diverse, due to their particular culture and traditions. The results showed several gaps in the empowerment of women in the country. If these gaps are to be closed, there is a need for efforts from many stakeholders, particularly in the education sector, as the gender agenda needs to be integrated into its national curriculum. Keywords: women’s empowerment, microfinance, village banks, culture, Laos</p>