{
  "title": "Closing Gender Gaps in India: Does Increasing Womens’ Access to Finance Help?",
  "publication": "IMF Working Papers, September 28, 2018",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2018/09/28/closing-gender-gaps-in-india-does-increasing-womens-access-to-finance-help-46251",
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  "summary": "Gender gaps in womens’ economic opportunities—labor market and entrepreneurship—have remained high in India. Lack of adequate collateral limits women entrepreneurs’ ability to access formal finance, leaving them to rely on informal sources, constraining their growth.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Summary",
      "content": "- Gender gaps in women’s economic opportunities—labor market and entrepreneurship—have remained high in India.\n- Lack of adequate collateral limits women entrepreneurs’ ability to access formal finance, leaving them to rely on informal sources and constraining their growth.\n- A small-open economy DSGE model is built to investigate the long-run macroeconomic impacts from closing gender gaps in financial access."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Key findings",
      "content": "- An increase in women entrepreneurs’ access to formal credit results in higher female entrepreneurship and employment, which boosts India’s output by 1.6 percent.\n- Regulations and gender-specific constraints in the labor market limit potential gains because females’ access to quality jobs in the formal sector remains restricted.\n- The factors influencing the number of females are different from those influencing the share of females in formal economic activity.\n- Combining gender-targeted financial inclusion policies with policies that lower constraints on formal sector employment could boost India’s output by 6.8 percent."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Model and methodology",
      "content": "- Analytical framework: small-open economy DSGE model.\n- Focus: long-run macroeconomic impacts of closing gender gaps in financial access.\n- Mechanisms emphasized: access to formal credit for women entrepreneurs, collateral constraints, reliance on informal finance, and labor market regulations and constraints affecting formal sector employment."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy implications and recommendations",
      "content": "- Expand women entrepreneurs’ access to formal credit to raise female entrepreneurship and employment.\n- Address regulatory and gender-specific labor market constraints to enable women’s access to quality formal-sector jobs.\n- Pursue combined policy packages that link gender-targeted financial inclusion with reforms reducing barriers to formal employment to maximize output gains.\n\nIMF Working Paper: Closing Gender Gaps in India: Does Increasing Womens’ Access to Finance Help?\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- wp18212 — Introduction, Model Overview, Calibration, and Gender-Specific Policies\n  - wp18212 — Introduction, Model Overview, Calibration, and Gender-Specific Policies (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - wp18212 — Introduction, Model Overview, Calibration, and Gender-Specific Policies (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2018/09/28/closing-gender-gaps-in-india-does-increasing-womens-access-to-finance-help-46251"
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    "Authors: Purva Khera",
    "Published: September 28, 2018",
    "Series: IMF Working Papers",
    "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484377468.001",
    "Gender gaps in women’s economic opportunities—labor market and entrepreneurship—have remained high in India.",
    "Lack of adequate collateral limits women entrepreneurs’ ability to access formal finance, leaving them to rely on informal sources and constraining their growth.",
    "A small-open economy DSGE model is built to investigate the long-run macroeconomic impacts from closing gender gaps in financial access.",
    "An increase in women entrepreneurs’ access to formal credit results in higher female entrepreneurship and employment, which boosts India’s output by 1.6 percent.",
    "Regulations and gender-specific constraints in the labor market limit potential gains because females’ access to quality jobs in the formal sector remains restricted.",
    "The factors influencing the number of females are different from those influencing the share of females in formal economic activity.",
    "Combining gender-targeted financial inclusion policies with policies that lower constraints on formal sector employment could boost India’s output by 6.8 percent.",
    "Analytical framework: small-open economy DSGE model.",
    "Focus: long-run macroeconomic impacts of closing gender gaps in financial access.",
    "Mechanisms emphasized: access to formal credit for women entrepreneurs, collateral constraints, reliance on informal finance, and labor market regulations and constraints affecting formal sector employment.",
    "Expand women entrepreneurs’ access to formal credit to raise female entrepreneurship and employment.",
    "Address regulatory and gender-specific labor market constraints to enable women’s access to quality formal-sector jobs.",
    "Pursue combined policy packages that link gender-targeted financial inclusion with reforms reducing barriers to formal employment to maximize output gains.",
    "**wp18212 — Introduction, Model Overview, Calibration, and Gender-Specific Policies**"
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