Replication data for: Mentors or Teachers? Microenterprise Training in Kenya

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Wyatt Brooks; Kevin Donovan; Terence R. Johnson

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App2017-0042_data			10/12/2019 02:04:PM
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Project Citation:

Brooks, Wyatt, Donovan, Kevin, and Johnson, Terence R. Replication data for: Mentors or Teachers? Microenterprise Training in Kenya. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2018. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113714V1

Project Description

Summary: We use a randomized controlled trial to demonstrate that inexperienced female microenterprise owners in a Kenyan slum benefit from mentorship by an experienced entrepreneur in the same community. Mentorship increases profits by 20 percent on average with initially large effects that fade as matches dissolve. We conduct a formal business education intervention, which has no effect on profits despite changes in business practice. Our results demonstrate that missing information is a salient barrier to profitability, but the type of information matters: access to the localized, specific knowledge of mentors increases profit while abstract, general information from the class does not.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
      J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
      L25 Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
      L26 Entrepreneurship
      O14 Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
      O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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DDI 2.5

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