EMPOWERING WOMEN: A FIELD EXPERIMENT ON FINANCIAL AND EDUCATION SUPPORT FOR URBAN HOUSEWIVES

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.