Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/39347 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
Center Discussion Paper No. 941
Publisher: 
Yale University, Economic Growth Center, New Haven, CT
Abstract: 
Can one teach basic entrepreneurship skills, or are they fixed personal characteristics? Most academic and development policy discussions abour microentrepreneurs focus on their access to credit and assume their human capital to be fixed, The self-employed poor rarely have any formal training in business skills. However, a growing number of microfinance organizations are attempting to build the human capital of micro-entrepreneurs in order to improve the livelihood of their clients and help further their mission of poverty alleviation. Using a randomized control trial, we measure the marginal impact of adding business training to a Peruvian group lending program for female microentrepreneurs. Treatment groups received thirty to sixty minute entrepreneurship training sessions during their normal weekly or monthly banking meeting over a period of one to two years. Control groups remained ad they were before, meeting at the same frequency but solely for making loan and savings payments. We find that the treatment led to improved business knowledge, practices and revenues. The program also improved repayment and client retention rates for the microfinance institutions. Larger effects found for those that expressed less interest in training in a baseline survey. This has important implications for implementing similar market-based interventions with a goal of recovering costs.
Subjects: 
entrepreurship
microfinance
business training
business skills
adult education
JEL: 
C93
D12
D13
D21
I21
J24
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.