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 Women may face more constraints than men to becoming entrepreneurs, but are not poor entrepreneurs. A potentially important factor limiting financial inclusion efforts is inadequate peer support among many women who have potential as entrepreneurs. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>Does the lack of peers contribute to the observed gender gap in entrepreneurial success, and is the constraint stronger for women facing more restrictive social norms? We offered two days of business counseling to a random sample of customers of India’s largest women’s bank. A random subsample was invited to attend with a friend. The intervention had a significant immediate impact on participants’ business activity, but only if they were trained in the presence of a friend. Four months later, those trained with a friend were more likely to have taken out business loans, were less likely to be housewives, and reported increased business activity and higher household income. The positive impacts of training with a friend were stronger among women from religious or caste groups with social norms that restrict female mobility.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links https://academic.oup.com/qje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/qje/qjx049/4768295 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 Can women make as good of entrepreneurs as men? Are women who attend business training with a friend better able to expand their businesses and increase household earnings and expenditures? Can the encouragement of female entrepreneurs to set concrete goals, especially in the presence of a friend, lead to increased demand for bank services? Sample Trial population and sample selection 636 women age 18-50 who had actively saved or borrowed from SEWA Bank between December 2004 and January 2006. A 2-stage selection process was implemented: First, selected 435 eligible women from a pool of 1,900 SEWA clients who had recently completed a socioeconomic survey. Second, an additional 201 women were selected from the SEWA database; to whom a brief baseline survey was administered. Of the 636 participants, 212 were randomised to control, 217 were selected for treatment 1 (train alone), and 207 were selected for treatment 2 (train with a friend). Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Group 1: 217 women; Group 2: 207 women Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description 2-day training module teaching financial literacy, business skills, and raising aspirations. Sessions were taught by regular SEWA Bank instructors and included homework. The second aspect randomised the the women into a group who were invited to attend the trainings alone, and the other half who were encouraged to bring a friend or relative. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Survey collected data on socio-demographics, household enterprises, and social connections. Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>Borrowing Behaviour: Whether a SEWA loan was taken and what type (personal, business, home repair, and amount), whether a non-SEWA loan was taken and the amount, problem repaying loans, whether a deposit was made in SEWA (or non-SEWA) account in past 30 days, amount of deposits in SEWA (or non-SEWA) account in past 30 days. Business Behaviour: Business inputs (hours worked, earnings saved for business investment), revenue expansion, cost reduction, business activity and sales. Client Well-being: Household income, expenditures, whether client earns own income, whether client is a housewife.</p> Results <p>Women who attend business training with a friend are able to expand their businesses and increase household earnings and expenditure, as measured at the 4-month follow-up. Participants in the train with a friend group doubled their demand for loans and significantly expanded their business activity and household income. The greatest effects were observed for women belonging to the most restrictive social groups. Also, simply encouraging women to focus on concrete goals in the presence of a friend increased demand for bank loans.</p> Intervention costs Not available. Cost benefit ratio Reference Field, Erica, Seema Jayachandran, Rohini Pande, and Natalia Rigol. 2016. "Friendship at Work: Can Peer Effects Catalyze Female Entrepreneurship?" American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 8 (2): 125-53. Citation for use in academic references
