Social Enterprise’s Interventions and Women Economic Empowerment: Mediating Role of Human Capabilities

Abstract

Sustainable development goals (SDG-5 and SDG-10) emphasize gender equality and women's empowerment to achieve sustainable development worldwide, specifically in developing countries. However, in Pakistan, gender inequality has been observed as a persistent hindrance to achieving economic development and quality of life. The demographic of the population further intensifies this challenge, as women comprise almost 50% of the total population, and the majority are economically less empowered. Additionally, most of them also need capability development. Consequently, Pakistani social enterprises offer various interventions such as microloans, training, workshops, and other development support to reduce this disparity. In Pakistan, people perceive social entrepreneurship as a unique phenomenon for enhancing women's empowerment. Social enterprises claim an upliftment in women's empowerment by offering various interventions. However, this claim needs to be explored and supported through empirical research evidence. Consequently, this study aims to investigate the role of social enterprises' interventions in women's economic empowerment using Human Capability Theory. The objectives of the study include identifying a unique mechanism for benefiting from social enterprises' interventions to enhance women's economic empowerment in developing countries such as Pakistan. A quantitative research approach was applied, using a time-lag (T1 and T2) survey method for data collection. Using purposive sampling and structured questionnaires, we collected data from 346 women micro-entrepreneurs in two districts of Pakistan (Lahore and Muzaffargarh). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS software. The results reveal that social enterprises' interventions have a partial mediating impact through human capabilities on women's economic empowerment. This research paper offers insightful evidence and inferences on social enterprises, human capabilities, and women's economic empowerment, specifically in developing countries' contexts. This study is limited to the context of Pakistan. Nonetheless, we can expand it further to other developing countries and conduct a comparative study in different contexts as future research.