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Field
Trial Status
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Before
on_going
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After
completed
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Field
Abstract
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Before
A significant part of the labor force in developing countries is engaged in small-scale entrepreneurship; however, many small businesses in these contexts suffer from low productivity. Policy makers in developing countries have been increasing efforts to support small-scale entrepreneurs in order to foster broad-based economic growth. One common policy response is to offer training to entrepreneurs; however, the results of managerial training on business performance have been mixed. In particular, women do not seem to benefit as much from training as men do. The psychological literature has shown promising results from training aiming to modify entrepreneurs’ mindsets, but more evidence is needed to confirm the robustness of these results.
This study is unique in that it compares the effects of two different types of training programs on entrepreneurs in a fragile state: a standard skills-based training program versus a personal initiative-based program. Furthermore, it seeks to understand which type of training is most effective for improving the performance of women-owned businesses.
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After
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.
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Trial End Date
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Before
December 31, 2017
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After
September 22, 2017
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Last Published
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Before
June 23, 2017 02:29 PM
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After
December 20, 2017 04:15 PM
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Field
Study Withdrawn
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Before
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After
No
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Field
Intervention Completion Date
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Before
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After
August 31, 2014
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Field
Data Collection Complete
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Before
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After
Yes
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Field
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
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Before
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After
1500 firms
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Field
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
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Before
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After
Yes
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Field
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
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Before
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After
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)
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Field
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
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Before
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After
500 control, 500 traditional training, 500 personal initiative, with attrition rates in different samples given in Table S1 of the Science paper.
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Field
Public Data URL
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Before
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After
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2860
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Field
Is there a restricted access data set available on request?
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Before
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After
No
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Field
Program Files
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Before
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After
Yes
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Field
Program Files URL
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Before
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After
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2860
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Field
Data Collection Completion Date
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Before
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After
September 30, 2016
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Field
Is data available for public use?
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Before
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After
Yes
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