Please use this form to submit your study for inclusion into our database. It will be checked by a member of the Innovation Growth Lab team, who may be in contact to ask for more information. Your email address * Your name * Title * The name of the study Short summary Despite the widespread popularity of entrepreneurship education, there is thin evidence on its effectiveness in improving employment outcomes over the medium to long-term. A potential time lag between entrepreneurial intentions and actions is sometimes presented as a reason why employment impacts are rarely observed. Based on a randomized control trial among university students in Tunisia, this paper studies the medium-term impacts of entrepreneurship education four years after students’ graduation. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>Despite the widespread popularity of entrepreneurship education, there is thin evidence on its effectiveness in improving employment outcomes over the medium to long-term. A potential time lag between entrepreneurial intentions and actions is sometimes presented as a reason why employment impacts are rarely observed. Based on a randomized control trial among university students in Tunisia, this paper studies the medium-term impacts of entrepreneurship education four years after students’ graduation. The paper complements earlier evidence that documented small short-term impacts on entry into self-employment and aspirations toward the future one year after graduation. The medium-term results show that the impacts of entrepreneurship education were short-lived. The intervention led to a temporary increase in business ideas and in nascent entrepreneurship. However, there is no sustained impact on self-employment or employment outcomes four years after graduation. The intervention induced some lasting impacts on business knowledge, but not on business networks. A large share of graduates reports financial constraints as the most prevailing barrier to entrepreneurship.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2019.101787 Links to any published papers and related discussions Authors * Affiliations Academic and other institutes that the authors of the study are members of Delivery partner Organisations involved in delivering the trial, if appropriate Year Year Year199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Month MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Day Day12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 Journal Journal publishing the study, if available Publication stage * Working Paper Published Ongoing Research Forthcoming Discussion Paper Research theme * Entrepreneurship Innovation Business Growth Country Country or countries where this study took place. Topics What sort of topics does the study cover? Sample attributes Hypotheses / research question Do changes in short-term intentions, after following the program predict longer-term effects on nascent or actual entrepreneurship? Sample Trial population and sample selection Final year university students who signed up for the entrepreneurship track; youth with a higher predisposition to self-employment than the general young population. Participants had high expectations for their participation in the programme. 88% believed that the entrepreneurship track would facilitate their insertion into the labour market and 89% that it would lead to higher earnings. Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description Business training: twenty full-day basic training covering entrepreneurship culture and behavioral skills, development and choice of business ideas, general management principles (including leadership, partnership choice, organisation, time management, and planning tools) and identification of relevant markets and market research. Plus advanced business training on information research, business plans and networking abilities. The training is provided by the public employment office, conducted in small groups and includes practical research on the ground. Coaching and supervision: eight individual or small group coach support to finalise the business plan, by private sector entrepreneurs working in an industry relevant to the student’s business idea or specialised coaches from public agencies. Plus one university professor who supervises the development and finalisation of the business plan. Project presentations: participants have the opportunity to pitch their ideas and get feedback from bankers and business experts in a pitching session. At the end of the year, they need to defend their business plan as part of the graduation requirements. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>“Latent entrepreneurship”, measured through the engagement in independent economic activities, “nascent entrepreneurship” measured through the concrete actions taken to develop a business project and “actual entrepreneurship.</p> Results <p>One year after graduation, participants had higher business knowledge but not a more entrepreneurial mindset nor a stronger network in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and are 3 percentage points more likely to be self-employed (compared to a 4.4% self-employment rate for non-participants). However, this effect vanishes three years later.</p> <p>The short run effect on self-employment is compensated by a decrease in wage employment (substitution effect), leaving overall employment unaffected around a low 28% employment rate.Four years after graduation, participants are more likely to have tried and set up projects at some point since graduation and to have prepared a business plan for their project. However, they are not more likely to have undertaken any additional preparatory actions nor to have succeeded in their attempts to set up their businesses. Almost three out of four reported access to capital as one of the main constraints to launch a successful business. Four year after graduation, participants are not more likely to prefer self-employment</p> Intervention costs Not available. Cost benefit ratio Reference Alaref, J., Brodmann, S. and Premand, P., 2020. The medium-term impact of entrepreneurship education on labor market outcomes: Experimental evidence from university graduates in Tunisia. Labour Economics, 62, p.101787. Citation for use in academic references
