The Effectiveness of Microfinance Program on Women’s Empowerment: Location as Moderator

Abstract

Women are an engine for economic growth and a value creator for businesses. Though women contribute roughly 40-50% of all small business related in developing countries, they represent fewer than 20% of the world’s landholders, and often their access and control of resources, particularly income, is comparatively lower than that of men. This prevents them from actively driving economic growth and productivity in the business chain. With the help of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), this study will reach out to the participant of AIM to understand the issue of women’s empowerment. This research focuses on 3 main components: the involvement of microfinance programs, social capital, and training. A survey designed for the participants of AIM was used to gather data from over 375 participants to study the effectiveness of Islamic microfinance in improving women’s empowerment in business. A partial least square-structural equation (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the research model. Subsequently, the research model was validated using Smart PLS 4 and proposed the study hypothesis. The findings confirmed that involvement in microfinance programs, and social capital, except training, positively influenced women’s empowerment in business. Geographical location as moderator was also found to be non-significant towards women’s empowerment.