Exploring the Participation of Women in Financial Cooperatives and Credit Unions in Developing Countries

Participation of women in microfinance institutions (MFIs) is touted to advance development in developing economies. By applying the stakeholder theory, we examine the magnitude of women's participation across MFIs based on their legal characteristics, that is, cooperatives and non-cooperatives across the following dimensions-organizational size, efficiency, loan size, and gender mix. We find that in the case of the cooperative types of MFIs, increases in average loan sizes are associated with decreases in female participation in the administration and governance. Further, the findings demonstrate that with increases in the participation of women borrowers, the number of women in organizational governance also increases. These findings suggest important research and practical implications regarding women's empowerment through participation in mutual cooperative societies. We conclude that credit unions and cooperatives could be an effective tool for enhancing women's participation in organizational administration and governance.