Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/MarkMPitt

Access to transfers and credit, whether cash or in-kind, is a major source of poverty alleviation and income generation in many developing countries around the world. Women may especially benefit from transfers and credit in countries such as Bangladesh where they often have few work alternatives. In this paper, the authors descriptively examine the formal and informal financial sectors of rural Bangladesh, placing special emphasis on differences between men and women. Their analysis uses unique data on the credit and transfer behaviors of 1,800 households in rural Bangladesh.

Group-based lending programs for the poor have drawn much attention recently. As many of these programs target women, an important research question is whether program participation significantly changes reproductive behavior and whether the gender of the participant matters. Using survey data from 87 Bangladeshi villages, this paper estimates the impact of female and male participation in group-based credit programs on reproductive behavior while paying close attention to issues of self-selection and endogeneity. We find no evidence that female participation in group-based credit programs increases contraceptive use or reduces fertility. Male participation reduces fertility and may slightly increase contraceptive use.

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