This study examines the impact of credit on women's relative well-being in
Grameen Bank's credit programmes. Using a bargaining model of the household
, as extended by Amartya Sen, well-being has been defined in terms of three
sets of capabilities: (i) autonomy, (ii) control over decision-making with
in the family, and (iii) relative access to household resources. It is hypo
thesised that the relative well-being of women and men depends on their res
pective bargaining power, which in turn depends on three factors: breakdown
position, perceived contribution to the family and perceived self-interest
.
The hypothesis has been tested using a two-stage estimation method to avoid
the potential problem of simultaneity bias that may be caused by the self-
selection problem. Results indicate that involvement in credit has improved
the relative well-being of women in some dimensions; but not in others. So
me reasons are advanced for this partial success in improving women's well-
being.