How can foreign aid impact female empowerment?

In this new Misum Academic Insight, Misum affiliates Maria Perrotta Berlin, Anders Olofsgård, and co-author Evelina Bonnier analyze the impacts of foreign aid on female empowerment, drawing on community-level data from Malawi. The study examines the outcomes of general and gender-targeted aid on gender norms and empowerment in rural settings.

The Academic Insight is based on the research paper "Foreign Aid and Female Empowerment" published in The Journal of Development Studies (2023).

While foreign aid’s impact on economic growth has been widely studied, its effect on gender equality and female empowerment has received less attention. Addressing this gap, the authors investigate how general and gender-focused aid projects influence various dimensions of female empowerment. Using data from Malawi, the study explores how aid impacts indicators like agency in decision-making, control over household resources, and attitudes towards gender norms.

The study reveals that while general aid positively affects empowerment outcomes, particularly in areas of female agency and women’s sexual and fertility preferences, gender-targeted aid enhances these effects. However, in patrilineal communities, this positive effect disappears and men’s attitude towards female empowerment turns negative. This indicates that donors need to consider community context before deciding on aid project design and placement.

Authors:

Maria Perrotta Berlin (Assistant Professor, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics)
Anders Olofsgård (Associate Professor, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics)
Evelina Bonnier (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics)