IMIB Journal of Innovation and Management

Labour Force Participation, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Through Micro-entrepreneurship: Evidence from Odisha, India

Asis Kumar Senapati^1,2 and Debapriya Parida³

First Published 11 Dec 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/ijim.231200316

Article Information

Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2024

Corresponding Author:

Asis Kumar Senapati, Department of Economics, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha, 753003, India
Email: asiseco@gmail.com

¹Department of Economics, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha, India

²Department of Economics and Development Studies, Central University of Jharkhand, Cheri-Manatu, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

³Department of Political Science, Govt. Women’s (Degree) College, Baripada, Odisha, India

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed.

Abstract

In this 21st century, the aggregative model of democracy would not be able to address the complex problem of a plural society where structural inequality is rampant. Hence, it is imperative to unearth a convenient way of the decision-making process through various social and economic empowerment factors, which enhance women’s participation and awareness despite structural inequalities deeply rooted in Indian society in general and Odisha in particular. This article seeks to highlight the factors determining women’s empowerment and identify issues related to the management of the enterprise. We have surveyed a hundred women entrepreneurs in the Ganjam district of Odisha, India, for the study. We have used multiple regression and Poisson regression models to identify the key determinants of women’s empowerment. The study found that domestic decision, autonomy, self-confidence, business skills and public deliberation are significant determinants of the number of indicators adopted to enhance the overall empowerment index. The multiple regression models found that women’s leisure, unpaid work, self-confidence, business skills and social status positively affect empowerment. The study found that micro-entrepreneurship is successful in the Ganjam district of Odisha. Hence, it is imperative to empower women through public deliberation and motivate them to participate in micro-entrepreneurship.

Keywords

Aggregative model of democracy, micro-entrepreneurship, Palli Sabha, public deliberation, women empowerment

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