differences. To address the concern of self-selection into the program, we use PSM to compare the outcomes of participants to those of untreated women. We also use 2SLS to instrument for the decision to participate using the roll-out of the program as well as estimating the intent to treat, and thus avoiding the problem of self-selection. By comparing participants to untreated women and using 2SLS to control for self-selection in the participation decision, we provide accurate estimates of the impact of the _Mahila Samakhya_ program on women’s economic, social, and intrahousehold empowerment. We test the validity of our instrument by estimating an intent to treat effect and find similar results. Had we directly compared participants to non-participants within the same district or failed to control for selection, we would have misestimated the true effect of participation.

We find that the program has resulted in significant increases in women’s access to outside employment, ability to go out without permission, and political participation, all of which are associated with higher levels of empowerment. We also find that these benefits were not restricted to those women who found outside work after the vocational training. Our results suggest that participants who do not work are still more able to leave the house without permission and have more access to outside employment. After correcting for truncation in the distribution of participants, we find that non-participants are significantly more likely to own NREGS cards than untreated women. This result may be evidence of positive spillover effects of the program on non-participating neighbors.

The marginal effects of the impact of _Mahila Samakhya_ on empowerment translate to significant increases in the number of women with higher empowerment outcomes. If the untreated districts in our sample were to be covered by _Mahila Samakhya_ , 17 percent more women (an increase of 20 out of 120 women) would be able to go out without permission, 33 percent more (an increase of 30 out of 131 women) would participate in village council meetings, and 58 percent more (an increase of 95 out of 140 women) would have NREGS cards. These numbers highlight the potential of _Mahila Samakhya_ in effecting significant social change.

Results also show that even participants without access to outside employment are more empowered than untreated women. One may criticize the program for spending scarce resources on individuals who do not then use their new-found skills to find employment, but we show that the increased reservation wage is beneficial in and of itself. Further, we find that _Mahila Samakhya_ had an indirect effect on the empowerment of non-participants relative to the untreated, indicating that the program has a spillover effect. This indirect effect likely works through either increasing access to information such as with a demonstration effect, or by changing social norms within the village. Understanding these indirect effects calls for further research.

The _Mahila Samakhya_ intervention adopts a slow and careful grassroots approach to rolling out its activities. Thus, our results cannot be generalized to programs following a faster, more individual-focused, or a top-down approach. Further, these results should be interpreted with some caution if selection on unobservables is a serious concern. That said, any bias from unaccounted-for program placement would likely be in the downward direction because the program would target women with low levels of empowerment. One might worry that areas with relatively empowered women are more effective in lobbying for the program to be implemented in their district, however we show that the characteristics of empowerment that are not likely to be affected by participation are not significantly different across treated and untreated districts and that other empowerment outcomes do not significantly differ over treated and untreated blocks before the introduction of the program, suggesting that empowered women are not lobbying for the program.

The _Mahila Samakhya_ program is unique, but it may be fruitfully replicated elsewhere in the developing world because it attempts to harness local peer networks to empower women. Similar 23