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

Although empowerment is seen as intrinsically important and instrumentally valuable to escape poverty, there is very little research on the empirical drivers of empowerment. Using custom-made household-level information and using advanced econometric techniques that also correct for endogeneity, we examine what empowers individuals in The Gambia to change their own lives and affect changes in their communities. We show that people’s self-reported capabilities are the most important drivers of empowerment. We also show that respondents’ confidence that they will be the most powerful agents in their lives is higher for men, foreigners, people free of health limitations, and younger people.