Diapositiva 1

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Second Conference New Directions in Welfare
A Structural Model of Female Empowerment and
Capabilities
Paola Ballón Fernández
International Institute of Labour Studies,
ILO University of Geneva, Switzerland
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Introduction
Motivation of the study
The relation between the Capability Approach and
female empowerment as a desired policy objective
that

• is important in its own right (intrinsic
  importance) ? missing dimension

• is important for achieving other policy goals
  (instrumental importance)

• is a necessary condition for poverty reduction
• (MDG, The Beijing Platform for Action, The Cairo
  Programme for Action)

Aim of the study

• To model female empowerment in a capability
  perspective.
• To apply it empirically to the study of female
  empowerment in Cambodia (DHS, 2005).

Account for missing dimensions, and provide
better insights for intra-family allocative
processes, and for broadening policy debate on
gender equality.
Complementary tool for development assistance
programmes.
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Introduction
Outline of the presentation

• Empowerment in a Capability Perspective
• The Structural Model
• The Empirical Application Cambodia, DHS (2005).
  
• Selected Results
• Conclusions

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1. Empowerment in a Capability perspective
The conceptual framework Sen (1999),
Kabeer(2001)

• Empowerment is a dynamic process rooted in the
  idea of human agency and choice
• ? progression from a state of disempowerment.
• where women
• are the significant actors of change,
• have the possibility to choose among real
  alternatives

• Definition of female empowerment
• Decision-making ability of a woman strategic
  and non-strategic life choices
• Strategic choices are life consequential choices
  deciding who/when to marry children
• Non-strategic choices are less consequential
  ones.

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1. Empowerment in a Capability perspective (cont.)

• The process of empowerment

• Differentiates between ?Feasible (latent)
  decision-making,
• ?Actualized decision-making
• (observed indicators of decision outcomes)

• Is characterized by
• Resources that precondition the ability to choose
  
• ? theoretically supported by the
  intra-household gender dynamics literature,
  known as extra-household environmental
  parameters or EEPs (McElroy, 1990)

1. Values and traditions reflect the transformative
   mechanism of feasible decision-making into
   actualized decisions.

This conceptual framework is practically
implemented by means of a structural economic
model ? Multiple-indicators multiple-causes
model (MIMIC).
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2. The Structural Economic Model
Model Potential vis-à-vis actualized choice.
Resources enhancing factors.
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2. The Structural Model MIMIC
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3. The Theoretical Model for Cambodia
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3. The Theoretical Model for Cambodia
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3. The Empirical application Decision outcome
indicators
Cambodia DHS, 2005
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3a.Results - Measurement equations
Multiple indicators
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3. Familial strategic life choices
Multiple indicators
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3. Second-order economic choices
Multiple indicators
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3b.Results Enhancing factors
Multiple causes
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3c.Results
What can we say about empowerment across
dimensions? Compare the cumulative distributions
using stochastic dominance analysis.
Self dominates familial Women have greater
decision making ability in the self domain
Not possible to conclude
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Empowerment status in the self-strategic domain
by education level
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Conclusions

• This paper has applied a conceptual framework
  proposed to measure female empowerment within
  the capability approach through an econometric
  model, taking into account, the different types
  of decisions, values/traditions, and enhancing
  factors.
• The empirical context concerns self-strategic,
  familial-strategic, and non-strategic economic
  decisions of Cambodian women.
• The empirical results
• Confirm the importance of values/traditions, like
  living with in-laws, being aware about AIDS, wife
  beating acceptance, in the transformative
  mechanism of decision-making ability into
  actualized decision-outcomes.
• Highlight the major role played by enhancing
  factors such as the respondents and her parents
  (mainly the fathers) education level, in
  promoting empowerment in all the three domains.
• A Mimic model for measuring female empowerment
  provides a holistic approach of the constitutive
  elements of empowerment, and therefore better
  insights for intra-family allocative processes
  and successful development assistance.