Factors influencing micro-entrepreneurship among women SHG members of Sikkim: a propensity score matching approach
Abstract
Purpose
The paper identifies the influence of socio-economic factors and livelihood training in stimulating micro-entrepreneurship among women self-help group (SHG) members.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a sample of 416 women SHG members drawn from all the four districts of Sikkim using cluster sampling procedure. A multivariate binary logistic model is used to find the impact of socio-economic factors, and a Poisson regression has been used to find the impact of training on fostering micro-entrepreneurship. The result is validated using a propensity score matching approach which corrects for the potential self-selection bias in the sample. Subsequently, a covariate adjustment estimator verifies the robustness of the approach.
Findings
The study finds that “size of landownership”, “amount of loan borrowed”, “member's age”, “number of earning and dependent members”, “number of years of SHG enrolment” as well as the “district to which the member belongs to” have a statistically significant influence on the graduation of SHG members to micro-entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it is found that members attending the livelihood training programmes had a significantly higher number of microenterprises.
Originality/value
The study differentiates itself by providing empirical evidence on how socio-economic factors and livelihood training stimulate micro-entrepreneurship among SHG women of Sikkim, which has so far remained unexplored. Moreover, advanced econometric method has been used to eliminate the possible self-selection bias involved with training participation and thereby provides reliable and robust results.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0070
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Smriti Prasad is a recipient of Indian Council of Social Science Research Doctoral Fellowship. Her article is largely an outcome of her doctoral work sponsored by ICSSR. However, the responsibility for the facts stated, opinions expressed and the conclusions drawn is entirely that of the author.
Funding: The study was funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research [Grant code: RFD/2018-19/GEN/ECO/06].
Citation
Prasad, S. and Choubey, M. (2023), "Factors influencing micro-entrepreneurship among women SHG members of Sikkim: a propensity score matching approach", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0070
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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