Building customers and markets for SMEs through online training

Last registered on May 17, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Building customers and markets for SMEs through online training
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007711
Initial registration date
May 21, 2021

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 21, 2021, 4:18 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 17, 2023, 4:22 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Albania
Region
Western Balkans
Country
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Region
Western Balkans
Country
Kosovo
Region
Western Balkans
Country
Montenegro
Region
Western Balkans
Country
Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of)
Region
Western Balkans
Country
Serbia
Region
Western Balkans

Primary Investigator

Name
David McKenzie
Affiliation
World Bank
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ana Paula Cusolito
PI Affiliation
World Bank
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2020-10-04
End date
2022-12-31
Keywords
Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
O14, M31, L26
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
A randomized experiment with 225 small and medium enterprises is used to test the impact of a program that has the main goal of helping firms to attract new customers, expand markets, adapt their business model, and bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic by boosting demand for their products, thereby potentially making the firms more attractive to investors.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cusolito, Ana Paula and David McKenzie. 2023. "Building customers and markets for SMEs through online training." AEA RCT Registry. May 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7711-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The treatment group is offered a combination of virtual group-based training sessions by Zoom, as well as a series of one-on-one meetings with a consultant. The control group receives much shorter group-based sessions only.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2020-12-17
Intervention End Date
2021-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcomes are measured in four domains:
Domain 1: Business Practices and Specific Actions Recommended by Training
The main outcome will be an index of business practices and actions implemented, defined in the pre-analysis plan.

Domain 2: Pivots, Innovation, and Short-term traction.
Three outcomes will be measured here, defined in the pre-analysis plan: (i) whether the firm has pivoted; (ii) whether it has innovated its products; and (iii) an index of traction measures.

Domain 3: Scores of judges (see PAP for definition)

Domain 4: Market expansion and firm performance
This will be divided into two subdomains (market expansion and firm performance), as defined in the PAP.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
See PAP for other outcomes
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
225 firms are individually randomized into two groups: a treatment group of 113 firms, and a control group of 112 firms
Experimental Design Details
See PAP
Randomization Method
Individual level randomization done in office by Stata
Randomization Unit
Firm
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
225 firms
Sample size: planned number of observations
225 firms Planning 1 or 2 follow-up rounds of data
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
113 treated firms, 112 control firms
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Populated PAP

MD5: aa2d81f9c92869007f92fa26015a2d17

SHA1: caf41c51956a512e9119540af602a8bad1425146

Uploaded At: May 17, 2023

Pre-analysis plan version 1

MD5: 4f30ef25edee80a78b54563938f7385d

SHA1: b22ea6cfa47826f3b496dedd4fbe649e95637b16

Uploaded At: May 21, 2021

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 29, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
February 28, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
225 firms
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Depends on outcome:
225 firms for digital presence, 180 firms for follow-up survey, 136 firms for judge scores
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
113 firms treated, 112 firms control
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials