Constraints to Female Entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of women’s goals and aspirations

Last registered on February 05, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Constraints to Female Entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of women’s goals and aspirations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002980
Initial registration date
May 11, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 15, 2018, 11:18 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
February 05, 2019, 2:40 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Pakistan
Region
South Asia

Primary Investigator

Name
Mahreen Mahmud
Affiliation
University of Exeter
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Giovanna d’Adda
PI Affiliation
University of Milan
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Diego Ubfal
PI Affiliation
Bocconi University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Farah Said
PI Affiliation
Lahore School of Economics
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2018-02-15
End date
2019-12-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Economics of Gender; Training
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Evidence on the impact of microfinance loans on business outcomes shows moderately positive, but not transformational effects especially for women. This finding has been linked to the fact that women do not invest the loans in their own business or they choose less profitable low-risk activities. We run a field experiment with microfinance female borrowers in Pakistan to test whether an intervention that exposes women to successful role models, and encourages goal setting, planning and the overcoming of obstacles can foster investments in higher-return activities. Moreover, we also study whether intra-household dynamics and social constraints interact with this treatment by cross-randomizing this intervention with the presence of the spouse.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
d’Adda, Giovanna et al. 2019. "Constraints to Female Entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of women’s goals and aspirations." AEA RCT Registry. February 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2980-2.0
Former Citation
d’Adda, Giovanna et al. 2019. "Constraints to Female Entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of women’s goals and aspirations." AEA RCT Registry. February 05. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2980/history/41040
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our main intervention combines documentaries on successful local role models of women using their loans for their own business (Bernard et al., 2014, Field et al., 2010), with a short exercise on goal setting, planning and implementation intentions techniques (Duckworth et al., 2013). We randomize half of the sample into this treatment, while we show a placebo documentary to women assigned to the control group, with no exposure to goal setting or implementation planning exercises. We also randomize half of the women in control and treatment groups to spouses (or main male decision maker in the household) being present during the interview and/or intervention.
Intervention Start Date
2018-03-01
Intervention End Date
2018-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Business survival, sales and profits, innovation, capital and labour inputs, time spent and involvement in decision making
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The sample for the study is drawn from client lists of our microfinance collaborator, NRSP. We conduct a weekly listing exercise of all individual liability microenterprise loans issued in the target area to identify women with pre-existing business. We randomise half the women to receive intervention (and control video) in the presence of the husband and then our enumerator team establishes contact and goes to the client’s house. They first do the baseline survey and then based on randomisation done within SurveyCTO administers either the treatment or control intervention.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
-
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 treated and 500 control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Oxford Research Ethics Approval
IRB Approval Date
2018-02-09
IRB Approval Number
SSD/CUREC1A/BSG_C1A-18-007
IRB Name
Lahore School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2018-01-22
IRB Approval Number
RERC-052017-01
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials