Perceived Islamic financial knowledge, Islamic financial service utilization, and women’s economic empowerment among women micro-and small-enterprise owners in Jambi

Amri, Ari Dean
Lubis, Paulina
Isnaeni, Nurida
Pratiwi, Heni
Silvera, Dica Lady
Suardi, Vivi Paramita

Jurnal Perspektif Pembiayaan dan Pembangunan Daerah
Vol. 14 No. 3 (2026): Jurnal Perspektif Pembiayaan dan Pembangunan Daerah

This study examines the relationships between perceived Islamic financial knowledge, Islamic financial service utilization, and women’s economic empowerment among women micro- and small-enterprise owners in Jambi Province, Indonesia. It distinguishes respondents’ perceived knowledge of Islamic finance from their self-reported use of Islamic financial products and services. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, supplemented by follow-up semi-structured interviews to provide contextual insight into the quantitative findings. Survey data were collected from 149 women entrepreneurs operating micro and small enterprises with prior experience using Islamic financial services and were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). We then conducted follow-up semi-structured interviews with 12 purposively selected survey participants to contextualize the observed relationships. The results show that perceived Islamic financial knowledge and Islamic financial service utilization are both positively and significantly associated with women’s economic empowerment. Islamic financial service utilization exhibits the larger estimated association, suggesting that more extensive reported use of Islamic financial services is more closely associated with empowerment than perceived financial knowledge alone. Participants in the follow-up interviews described institutional reach, financing procedures, digital access, and business assistance as contextual conditions that may facilitate or constrain the use of Islamic financial services. By empirically distinguishing perceived financial knowledge from self-reported service utilization, this study provides a more precise account of their respective relationships with women’s economic empowerment. The findings suggest that practical Islamic financial education should be complemented by measures that facilitate the informed, sustained, and productive use of appropriate Islamic financial services among women-owned micro and small enterprises.