Documents et rapports

Micro-Equity for Microenterprises (anglais)

Many microenterprises in developing countries have high returns to capital, but also face risky revenue streams. In principle, equity offers several advantages over debt when financing investments of this...

Are labor market imperfections the reason so few microenterprises hire workers? : an experiment in Sri Lanka suggests they are not (anglais)

This brief examines whether labor market imperfections stop microenterprises from growing, using an experiment in Sri Lanka that provided wage subsidies to small firms to help them hire workers.

Labor drops : experimental evidence on the return to additional labor in microenterprises (anglais)

The majority of enterprises in many developing countries have no paid workers. This paper reports on a field experiment conducted in Sri Lanka that provided wage subsidies to randomly chosen microenterprises...

Radio frequency (Un) identification : Results from a proof-of-concept trial of the use of RFID technology to measure microenterprise turnover in Sri Lanka (anglais)

Accurate measurement of stock levels, turnover, and profitability in microenterprises in developing countries is difficult due to the fact that the majority of these firms do not keep detailed records...

Radio frequency (un)identification : results from a proof-of-concept trial of the use of RFID technology to measure microenterprise turnover in Sri Lanka (anglais)

Accurate measurement of stock levels, turnover, and profitability in microenterprises in developing countries is difficult because the majority of these firms do not keep detailed records. This paper tests...

Statement of loans for August 2013 : Africa (anglais)

One-time transfers of cash or capital have long-lasting effects on microenterprises in Sri Lanka (anglais)

This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled One-time transfers of cash or capital have long-lasting effects on microenterprises in Sri Lanka, conducted during the time...

Returns to capital in micro enterprises : evidence from a field experiment (anglais)

This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Returns to capital in micro enterprises : evidence from a field experiment, conducted in 2007 in Sri Lanka. The study observed...

Business training and female enterprise start-up, growth, and dynamics experimental evidence from Sri Lanka (anglais)

This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Business training and female enterprise start-up, growth, and dynamics experimental evidence from Sri Lanka, conducted during...

Sri Lanka - Are women more credit constrained? Experimental evidence on gender and microenterprise returns (anglais)

This brief summarizes the results of a gender impact evaluation study, entitled Are women more credit constrained? Experimental evidence on gender and microenterprise returns, conducted during the time...

The demand for, and consequences of, formalization among informal firms in Sri Lanka (anglais)

A field experiment in Sri Lanka provides informal firms incentives to formalize. Information about the registration process and reimbursement of direct costs does not increase registration. Payments equivalent...

Business training for new and existing female-owned firms in Sri Lanka (anglais)

This note discusses one of a number of recent impact evaluations of business training programs. Further reading provides a link to a critical overview of this new literature.

Business training and female enterprise start-up, growth, and dynamics : experimental evidence from Sri Lanka (anglais)

The authors conduct a randomized experiment among women in urban Sri Lanka to measure the impact of the most commonly used business training course in developing countries, the Start-and-Improve Your Business...

The demand for, and consequences of, formalization among informal firms in Sri Lanka (anglais)

The majority of firms in most developing countries are informal. The authors of this paper conducted a field experiment in Sri Lanka that provided incentives for informal firms to formalize. Offering only...

Do informal firms want to formalize and does it help them if they do? (anglais)

Most firms in developing countries are informal. Does it make sense for them to formalize? Hernando de Soto has famously argued that informal firms would like to be formal, only that burden some entry...

Long term impacts of one off grants to microenterprises (anglais)

Traditional economic models of investment such as the Ramsey model would predict that such grants should have at most temporary effects. In such models, there is an efficient steady state size for a business...

The World Bank economic review 25 (3) (anglais)

This paper is organized in following headings: what constrains Africa's exports?; does the internet reduce corruption? evidence from United States and across countries; do labor statistics depend on how...

Getting credit to high return micro entrepreneurs : the results of an information intervention (anglais)

Small-scale entrepreneurs typically cite access to finance as the most important constraint to growth. Recent randomized experiments have shown the return to capital to be very high for the average microenterprise...

Enterprise recovery following natural disasters (anglais)

Using data from surveys of enterprises in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami, the authors undertake the first microeconomic study of the recovery of the private firms in a developing country following...

Innovative firms or innovative owners ? determinants of innovation in micro, small, and medium enterprises (anglais)

Innovation is key to technology adoption and creation, and to explaining the vast differences in productivity across and within countries. Despite the central role of the entrepreneur in the innovation...