Determinants of Empowerment in a Capability-Based Poverty Approach: Evidence from The Gambia

Although empowerment is intrinsically important and instrumentally valuable to escape poverty, there is little research on its empirical drivers. Using household-level information and advanced econometric techniques that also address endogeneity issues, we examine what empowers individuals in The Gambia to change their own lives and to affect changes in their communities. We find that age, gender, marital status, nationality, economic activity, and health are important determinants of empowerment at both communal and individual levels. Self-reported capabilities and communal empowerment strongly affect respondents’ desire to change things in their lives. Lastly, we find that men, foreigners, people in good health, and younger people report higher individual empowerment.