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 In the context urban Sri Lanka the challenge in getting female-owned, subsistence-level microenterprises to grow may lie outside the realm of capital and skills. Results of the training and capital access intervention are somewhat more encouraging in terms of helping women who are outside the labour force to start enterprises more quickly. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>This study evaluates the impacts of a business training program serving female microentrepreneurs in Lima that have previously benefited with the titling of their urban parcels. The intervention included personal development, business management and productive skills, aiming at empowering women so that they improve the control of their lives, their access to credit, their business practices, which in turn would increase the income and welfare of their families. 1983 eligible women were randomly allocated to treatment (2) and control groups. Women in the two treatment groups (1416) were offered business training in 36 three-hour sessions over approximately 12 weeks (regular training). In addition, half of them were offered an individualized support in the form of technical assistance (TA) over a period of three extra months. A baseline survey was applied before randomization and a follow-up survey about four months after the end of the treatment (about 12 months since the beginning of treatment). We find that women assigned to treatment indeed made some important adjustments in their business practices according to the training, although they differ depending on the type of treatment received. Those that received only regular training were more prone to close losing businesses. In turn, those that also received TA, were more prone to plan and execute innovations, as well as to increase their association with business peers and its use of informal credit sources. Furthermore, such innovations led to an increase in sales of at least 18%. These results have a clear policy implication: transmitting general good business practices may be cheaper and more scalable, but we need to include specific advice to help female microentrepreneurs grow. Both, business income and practices effects accrue among those with relatively larger businesses, suggesting the existence of a threshold above which this kind of business training can help. Lack of strong effects on the participation of women in key decisions and attitudes towards gender relations suggest the need to strengthen the personal development module, but such adjustment needs to take into account that time is a scarce resource for female microentrepreneurs as they need to share their time between their businesses and their traditional responsibilities with household chores.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/336003-1303333954789/final_report_bustraining_BM_march31.pdf 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 Is entrepreneurship and business success related to training or intrinsic traits? Can business/entrepreneurial training help female microentrepreneurs in developing countries to improve business practices, business results, gender empowerment, and reduce child labour? Sample Trial population and sample selection 1,983 eligible female microentrepreneurs were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. Eligibility was defined based on women having a family business, a titled plot, and expressing interest in participating in the training programme. Eligible women were recruited in four of the largest districts of Lima by training institutions with help from local government officials. Recruitment strategies used local radio and newspaper ads and brochures, as well as personalised visits to the women's businesses. Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Group 1: 709 women; Group 2: 709 women Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description The goal of training was to transfer entrepreneurial skills and was organised in 2 components: General training component (GT) - 36 three-hour group sessions delivered three times a week. Content consisted of best practices associated to successful microentrepreneurs, divided in three modules: personal development, business tools, and practical matters including external perception. Technical assistance component (TA) - included the same three modules, but more specific support, based on the characteristics of the women's businesses and their needs. It combined individual sessions/visits with group sessions among similar businesses over a 3-month period. Treatment group 1 received only GT. Treatment group 2 received GA and TA. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Baseline survey before randomisation was conducted by experienced surveyors. Questions included socio-demographic characteristics of the eligible women and her family, economic activities by all members, characteristics of the eligible women's businesses, business practices, business results, business knowledge, attitude and perceptions, and involvement in key business and family decisions. Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>A vast multitude of variables were collected across the following categories: Business practices and business results. Family participation in beneficiary's main business. Access to credit. Women's participation in key business and home decisions. Attitudes towards women's economic roles and entrepreneurship.</p> Results <p>The timing of the follow-up only permits inferences to be made in the short run, as we do not know whether this intervention would have permanent impacts. Business practices and results: Full treatment lead to sizable increases in sales. Those that received the regular training were more prone to close their businesses when they realised they were losing money. Those that received more specialised business advice moved toward planning and executing innovations to improve business and increased collaboration with peers. Empowerment of the female microentrepreneur: No significant effects. Time use by household members: No significant effects.</p> Intervention costs Not available. Cost benefit ratio Reference Valdivia, M., 2011. 'Training or Technical Assistance? A Field Experiment to Learn What Works to Increase Managerial Capital for Female Microentrepreneurs'. World Bank Working Paper, March. Citation for use in academic references
