Abstract:
In this paper, a lab-in-the-field-experiment and survey methods were
used to analyze the effects of social business funds in the form of
Sharia Micro Finance (SMF). The main aim was to develop women
entrepreneurs to alleviate poor economic state in the urban wetlands
of South Kalimantan province, Indonesia. In the first stage of the
experiment, SMF was established to provide loans without interest to
women, especially housewives. In the second stage, SMF was
developed by adding a service of Murabahah, including the sale and
purchase agreement of an item. This involved confirming its purchase
price to the buyer, where a higher payment is made to the SMF
institution. Primary data were collected from 49 housewives of the
Sungai Andai region of Banjarmasin City. Within the following 1 year,
only 8.5% of research subjects applied for business loans. However,
they used the loans for consumption rather than for business purposes
for three reasons, including (1) insufficient money to meet daily needs,
(2) Inability and ignorance to start pioneering micro businesses, and
(3) inadequate entrepreneurial guidance, especially on marketing
business products. There is a need for research on the problems that
make it challenging to empower women through entrepreneurship,
including psychological factors such as motivation, interest and role
conflict.
