Abstract

This study examines the impact of MSMEs on women empowerment in Odisha, India. To measure women empowerment, this study exploits five parameters, namely, household empowerment, economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment, and personal empowerment as their decision-making ability in various aspects of life. This study utilizes a structured questionnaire to accumulate information from women entrepreneurs. The primary data has been collected from 300 respondents (women entrepreneurs in MSMEs) from the twin cities - Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in Odisha. This study uses the methods exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine and analyze the latent form. The study first used EFA to examine the structure and many dimensions of women empowerment and then CFA to check the suitability and generalizability of the found factor structure. By using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, this study finds a valid and reliable five-dimensional concept of women empowerment in Odisha.