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 randomized control trial with 945 entrepreneurs in Jamaica shows positive shortterm impacts of soft-skills training on business outcomes. The effects are concentrated among men, and disappear twelve months after the training. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>A randomized control trial with 945 entrepreneurs in Jamaica shows positive shortterm impacts of soft-skills training on business outcomes. The effects are concentrated among men, and disappear twelve months after the training. It is argued that the main channel is increased adoption of recommended business practices, exclusively observed in the short run. There are persistent effects on an incentivized behavioral measure of perseverance after setbacks, a focus of this training. A comparison is drawn with a course focused only on soft-skills to one that combines soft-skills training with traditional business training. The effects of the combined training are never statistically significant.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105787 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 Does training entrepreneurs on soft skills related to personal initiative improve the business outcomes of male and female entrepreneurs in Jamaica? Moreover, it aims to study whether combining training on soft and hard skills can be more effective than a more intensive training on only soft skills. Sample Trial population and sample selection Small business owners. 58 percent are women, average age is 42 years old and 61 percent have more than secondary education. Most 63 percent have parents who also were entrepreneurs and 64 percent report wanting to change something in their business. Levels of personal initiative, perseverance indexes, locus of control, and willingness to take risks are high among participants. All businesses have five or less employees, and 70% have no employees. Average monthly sales are USD 680, but half of the businesses report monthly sales below 230 USD. About a half are formally registered, 35 percent have been created during the past year and only 61 percent had been operating continuously during the past year. Businesses operate in a wide mix of industries, the main ones being manufacturing (26 percent) and retail (19 percent). In terms of business practices there is room for improvement. Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description The firms are offered the initial basic module on personal initiative. Then, half of the firms are offered the advance module on personal initiative to go in more depth on this material (personal initiative training) while the other half are offered the module on good business practices (combined training). Basic module on personal initiative: five four-hour classes focused on developing a personal initiative mindset. The sessions approach is hands-on, using examples from the local context and exercises applied to the businesses of the participants. This module related personal initiative to different steps of the entrepreneurial process such as identifying opportunities, setting goals, planning, and overcoming barriers. Advanced module on personal initiative: five four-hour classes going more in depth over the material related to personal initiative. It focuses on concepts related to perseverance, including creative problem-solving, learning from mistakes, anticipating barriers, dealing with emotional setbacks, and deliberate practice. Module on business practices: five four-hour sessions covering strategic management, stocking, financial management, record keeping, costing, customer care, and business plan formulation. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method In order to recruit entrepreneurs for the training, the research team conducted a telemarketing campaign. They mentioned that participants who completed an application form would be entered in a lottery for a chance to win a free slot at the training. Overall, around 2,000 entrepreneurs living in Kingston, the capital city of Jamaica, and surrounding parishes expressed interest in the training. Some entrepreneurs completed a baseline survey during the first contact, and some were re-contacted to complete a baseline survey either by phone or online. The survey took around 30 min and included questions about demographics, business outcomes, business practices, and Likert scale-type questions to measure soft skills (personal initiative, perseverance, and locus of control). Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>Business outcomes (i.e., sales and profits) and development of soft skills, such as perseverance, overcoming barriers, and grit.</p> Results <p>Being offered the combined training (business practices + personal initiative) does not lead to any positive changes for participant firms, on neither business practices nor business performance in the short or the longer run. One year after the programme, business owners offered the personal initiative training show a more developed entrepreneurial mindset (perseverance, personal initiative, future orientation and capacity to overcome barriers). Three month after the training, the rate of adoption of recommended business practices is 20% higher among firms offered the personal initiative training (compared to firms not offered any training). They are also more likely to have introduced a new product or producing technique, and have higher sales and profits. The short run effects of the personal initiative training on business practices and performance vanish one year later. However, the short run effects on profits alone compensate for the cost of the training (US$ 212 per participant) within three months. None of the training shows robust effects on use of inputs, or access to credit. Both men and women entrepreneurs offered the personal initiative training show higher rates of business practices adoption three month after the training. However, the positive short run effects on sales and profits are concentrated among men, with the training not triggering better performance for women-led businesses.</p> Intervention costs The total cost of offering each training program to 315 participants was US $66,737. This amount can be decomposed into the following components: teacher stipend (37%), food and drinks for participants (24%), venue rental (13%), training coordination (7%), recruitment and mobilization of participants (6%), and teaching material (5%). Cost benefit ratio Reference Ubfal, D., Arraiz, I., Beuermann, D.W., Frese, M., Maffioli, A. and Verch, D., 2022. The impact of soft-skills training for entrepreneurs in Jamaica. World Development, 152, p.105787. Citation for use in academic references
