Rigorous Evidence on Training Interventions to Improve Entrepreneurial Success of Micro and Small Businesses in Africa

A new approach to reduce poverty is to support micro and small businesses via bottom-up interventions. Initially, research proposed business trainings to improve success of micro and small entrepreneurs. More recently,... [ view full abstract ]

A new approach to reduce poverty is to support micro and small businesses via bottom-up interventions. Initially, research proposed business trainings to improve success of micro and small entrepreneurs. More recently, training interventions based on the psychology of entrepreneurship gained momentum. This research uses randomized controlled field experiments (RCTs) to draw causal conclusions and shed light on training mechanisms and effectiveness. With this symposium, we seek to introduce psychological training interventions for micro and small businesses as powerful tool towards entrepreneurial success. Given the multidisciplinary character of the problem, our symposium encompasses presentations by economists (World Bank) and management scholars (Psychology). Three large training interventions in Ethiopia and Togo were carefully evaluated. Importantly, the RCTs draw comparisons between different training approaches. We will present the findings and discuss best practices for generating conclusive evidence. Additionally, our symposium will address familial factors that influence entrepreneurial success beyond training.