Efficiency measurement of SHGs in women empowerment through data envelopment analysis: An empirical inquest in Mayurbhanj District of Odisha, India

Over the past decades, social and solidarity finance initiatives have gained significant importance, particularly in South-East countries such as India, especially for poor women. These initiatives are often linked to social empowerment through collective action and institutions. The women self-help group (SHG) as an institution is designed to empower women through a wider range of initiatives such as savings, credit, micro-insurance, micro-justice and other microfinance ‘+’ social activities including education and health. However, the existing body of knowledge has not significantly covered the empirical based efficiency of SHG in empowering women with scientific measurement tool. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) tool was employed in this paper as an appropriate tool to measure the efficiency of SHGs in women empowerment. Women empowerment with socio-economic and human dimensions has been considered as the output of this tool. On the other side, the CRS Input-Oriented Model of DEA used inputs such as: setting vision, mission and bylaw preparation; exposure and training; governance; building social capital; market linkage; social networking; and engagement with other development schemes. The data was collected through a structured interview schedule from 62 self-help groups in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, and data analysis was done through STATA software. The findings confirmed that 30 out of 62 SHGs were relatively more efficient in empowering women. The remaining 32 SHGs were operating below the required efficiency level. Therefore, it can be concluded that the efficiency of SHGs is significantly depends on the functioning of the facilitating activities (considered as inputs in this paper) as mentioned above.