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Innovative approaches to addressing gender gaps in productivity and earnings

Last registered on December 20, 2017
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Innovative approaches to addressing gender gaps in productivity and earnings
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000888
Initial registration date
October 02, 2015

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
October 02, 2015, 4:58 PM EDT

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

Last updated
December 20, 2017, 4:15 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Togo
Region
West Africa

Primary Investigator

Name
Hillary Johnson
Affiliation
World Bank
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Francisco Campos
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
Mona Mensmann
PI Affiliation
Leuphana University of Luneburg
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PI Name
Michael Frese
PI Affiliation
National University of Singapore / Leuphana University of Luneburg
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PI Name
Leonardo Iacovone
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
Markus Goldstein
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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PI Name
David McKenzie
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2013-10-15
End date
2017-09-22
Keywords
Post-conflict
Additional Keywords
Private sector development, entrepreneurship
JEL code(s)
M13
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Standard business training programs aim to boost the incomes of the millions of self-employed business owners in developing countries by teaching basic financial and marketing practices, yet the impacts of such programs are mixed. We test whether a psychology-based personal initiative training approach which teaches and promotes a proactive mindset that focuses on entrepreneurial behaviors can have more success. A randomized controlled trial in Togo assigned microenterprise owners to a control group (N=500); a leading business training program (N=500); or to personal initiative training (N=500). Four follow-up surveys track firm outcomes over two years and show personal initiative training increases firm profits by 30 percent, compared to a statistically insignificant 11 percent for traditional training. The training is cost-effective, paying for itself within one year.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Campos, Francisco et al. 2017. "Innovative approaches to addressing gender gaps in productivity and earnings." AEA RCT Registry. December 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.888-3.0
Former Citation
Campos, Francisco et al. 2017. "Innovative approaches to addressing gender gaps in productivity and earnings." AEA RCT Registry. December 20. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/888/history/24326
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2014-04-01
Intervention End Date
2014-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcomes of interest include business performance, measured as sales and profits, and firm survival. The pre-analysis plan details the secondary outcomes of interest and the specifications to be used.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In this randomly controlled trial, 500 entrepreneurs were selected to participate in a managerial training, and 500 entrepreneurs were selected to participate in a personal initiative training. Entrepreneurs in each training group received 12 half-day sessions of classroom training followed by four months of one-on-one mentoring. The impact of each type of training will be measured in comparison with a control group, and the effects of the two types of trainings will be compared.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization was done on a computer in front of representatives from the government, the project, the partners of the project, and the beneficiaries.
Randomization Unit
The randomization was done using stratified random sampling at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
This is not a clustered randomization. The selection is done at the individual level.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,500 entrepreneurs
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 entrepreneurs in the managerial training group, 500 entrepreneurs in the personal initiative training group, 500 entrepreneurs in the control group
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

Pre-analysis plan

MD5: efbd8ba3b127876a3c8210dd42f31cc0

SHA1: 7bc22868e12165ad1683c36fff6ddd1673f082df

Uploaded At: September 28, 2015

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
August 31, 2014, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
September 30, 2016, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1500 firms
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Yes
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
4 Rounds of follow-up surveys were conducted. Attrition rates averaged 9%, and are reported in Table S1 in the Science paper. Attrition rates varied by up to 2-3 percent by treatment status, and results are robust to these concerns. Total number of firm*time observations is 5633 to 5692 for our main outcomes (Table 1 of Science paper)
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
500 control, 500 traditional training, 500 personal initiative, with attrition rates in different samples given in Table S1 of the Science paper.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes
Public Data URL
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2860

Program Files

Program Files
Yes
Program Files URL
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2860
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Standard business training programs aim to boost the incomes of the millions of self-employed business owners in developing countries by teaching basic financial and marketing practices, yet the impacts of such programs are mixed. We test whether a psychology-based personal initiative training approach which teaches and promotes a proactive mindset that focuses on entrepreneurial behaviors can have more success. A randomized controlled trial in Togo assigned microenterprise owners to a control group (N=500); a leading business training program (N=500); or to personal initiative training (N=500). Four follow-up surveys track firm outcomes over two years and show personal initiative training increases firm profits by 30 percent, compared to a statistically insignificant 11 percent for traditional training. The training is cost-effective, paying for itself within one year.
Citation
Francisco Campos, Michael Frese, Markus Goldstein, Leonardo Iacovone, Hillary Johnson, David McKenzie and Mona Mensmann, Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa Science, vol. 357, issue 6357: pp. 1287-90, 22 September 2017
URL
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/357/6357/1287.full.pdf?ijkey=yBDf.q3O79Kjs&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

Reports & Other Materials