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 A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>Micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries are often constraint by inefficient supply chains, facing high travel costs and high prices in purchasing their inventory. At the same time, due to their small scale, they buy in small quantities, limiting their benefit from economies of scale, whether in bulk discounts or transport efficiencies. Small-scale food vendors in Bogotá, whose customers are residents of low-income neighborhoods, face these very issues. Based on initial research, these vendors spend an average of 15 hours per week and 20-30 percent of their weekly income travelling to the central marketplace (Corabastos) for their purchase. Agruppa, a start-up, has developed a new mobile based technology that agglomerates orders for these small vendors. The technology system aggregates produce orders from the vendors that add up to wholesale quantities, purchases them from farmer cooperatives, and delivers them directly to the vendors. It is estimated that the bulk orders are priced an estimated 30% below the small orders. Agruppa, through its technology, not only aims to lower the inventory and travel cost of the small vendors, but also intends to measure the benefits to spillovers to the residential consumers. The study will measure the impact of these direct effects of the technology, as well as the indirect effects, which are the loss of sales of the competitors who do not take-up the technology. This impact evaluation will contribute to a larger question of how technology can be utilized to the benefit of MSMEs. This study will specifically look at 1) technology’s role in connecting small vendors to larger suppliers, 2) its ability to create value through new modes of transaction, and 3) its effects in creating competition.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/competitiveness-policy-impact-evaluation-lab/brief/shortening-microentrepreneur-supply-chain-through-mobile-technology 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 How can digital technology improve supply chain management and commercial outcomes for small vendors? Sample Trial population and sample selection Vegetable vendors in Bogota Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description Agruppa platform that uses mobile technology to aggregate orders for small-scale vendors that become wholesale and thus reduce supply chain costs for vendors. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>Outcomes: travel costs and prices of inputs, firm profits and sales; both direct (interested in treatment who get the treatment vs interested in control) and indirect (compare uninterested in treatment who then are not directly treated to uninterested in control).</p> Results Intervention costs Cost benefit ratio Reference Iacovone, L., Mckenzie, D. (forthcoming). 'Shortening Microentrepreneur Supply Chain through Mobile Technology (Microenterprise Supply Chain Intermediation Pilot)'. Ongoing research. Citation for use in academic references
