Second Conference: “New Directions in Welfare” Paris, July 6th-8th, 2011 A Structural Model of Female Empowerment and Capabilities Paola Ballón Fernández International Institute of Labour Studies, ILO University of Geneva, Switzerland

Introduction Account for “missing dimensions”, and provide better insights for intra-family allocative processes, and for broadening policy debate on gender equality. Complementary tool for development assistance programmes. The relation between the Capability Approach and female empowerment as a desired policy objective that:  is important in its own right (intrinsic importance)  “missing dimension”  is important for achieving other policy goals (instrumental importance) Aim of the study: Motivation of the study:  is a necessary condition for poverty reduction (MDG, The Beijing Platform for Action, The Cairo Programme for Action)  To model female empowerment in a capability perspective.  To apply it empirically to the study of female empowerment in Cambodia (DHS, 2005).

Introduction Outline of the presentation: 1.Empowerment in a Capability Perspective 2.The Structural Model 3.The Empirical Application: Cambodia, DHS (2005). 4.Selected Results 5.Conclusions

1. Empowerment in a Capability perspective The conceptual framework Sen (1999), Kabeer(2001): Definition of female empowerment: “Decision-making ability of a woman: strategic and non-strategic life choices ”  Strategic choices are life consequential choices: deciding who/when to marry; # children  Non-strategic choices are less consequential ones.  Empowerment is a dynamic process rooted in the idea of human agency and choice  progression from a state of disempowerment.  where women: are the significant actors of change, have the possibility to choose among real alternatives

1. Empowerment in a Capability perspective (cont.) The process of empowerment:  Is characterized by: a.Resources that precondition the ability to choose  theoretically supported by the intra-household gender dynamics literature, known as “extra-household environmental parameters or EEP’s” (McElroy, 1990) b.Values and traditions: reflect the transformative mechanism of feasible decision- making into actualized decisions.  Differentiates between:  Feasible (latent) decision-making,  Actualized decision-making (observed indicators of decision outcomes) This conceptual framework is practically implemented by means of a: “structural economic model”  Multiple-indicators multiple-causes model (MIMIC).

2. The Structural Economic Model “Resources” (pre-condition the ability to choose) Values and traditions (influence the transformative mechanism) Transformative mechanism Model: Potential vis-à-vis actualized choice. “Resources”: enhancing factors. Decision outcomes “actualized decision-making” Observed Empowermen t “feasible decision- making ” Latent

2. The Structural Model: MIMIC Structural Model Measurement Model (categorical) (continuous) Empowerment dimensions Decision-outcomes Exogenous enhancing factors (resources) Values/traditions (exogenous) observed Latent

3. The Theoretical Model for Cambodia

3. The Empirical application: Decision outcome indicators Cambodia: DHS, 2005

3a.Results - Measurement equations Multiple indicators: Values/traditions Loadings

3. Familial strategic life choices Multiple indicators: Loadings Values /traditions

3. Second-order “economic” choices Multiple indicators:

3b.Results Enhancing factors Multiple causes:

3c.Results What can we say about empowerment across dimensions? Compare the cumulative distributions using stochastic dominance analysis. “Self” dominates “familial” Women have greater decision making ability in the “self” domain Not possible to conclude

Empowerment status in the self-strategic domain by education level

Conclusions This paper has applied a conceptual framework proposed to measure female empowerment within the capability approach through an econometric model, taking into account, the different types of decisions, values/traditions, and enhancing factors. The empirical context concerns self-strategic, familial-strategic, and non-strategic economic decisions of Cambodian women. The empirical results: Confirm the importance of values/traditions, like living with in-laws, being aware about AIDS, wife beating acceptance, in the transformative mechanism of decision-making ability into actualized decision-outcomes. Highlight the major role played by enhancing factors such as the respondent’s and her parents’ (mainly the father’s) education level, in promoting empowerment in all the three domains. A Mimic model for measuring female empowerment provides a holistic approach of the constitutive elements of empowerment, and therefore better insights for intra- family allocative processes and successful development assistance.