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Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa

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Campos, Francisco, Frese, Michael, Goldstein, Markus, Iacovone, Leonardo, Johnson, Hillary C., McKenzie, David and Mensmann, Mona (2017) Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa. Science, 357 (6357). pp. 1287-1290. doi:10.1126/science.aan5329

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aan5329

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Abstract

Standard business training programs aim to boost the incomes of the millions of self-employed business owners in developing countries by teaching basic financial and marketing practices, yet the impacts of such programs are mixed. We tested whether a psychology-based personal initiative training approach, which teaches a proactive mindset and focuses on entrepreneurial behaviors, could have more success. A randomized controlled trial in Togo assigned microenterprise owners to a control group (n = 500), a leading business training program (n = 500), or a personal initiative training program (n = 500). Four follow-up surveys tracked outcomes for firms over 2 years and showed that personal initiative training increased firm profits by 30%, compared with a statistically insignificant 11% for traditional training. The training is cost-effective, paying for itself within 1 year.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Management
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Small business -- Growth -- Tógó
Journal or Publication Title: Science
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN: 0036-8075
Official Date: 22 September 2017
Dates:
DateEvent
22 September 2017Published
23 August 2017Accepted
Volume: 357
Number: 6357
Page Range: pp. 1287-1290
DOI: 10.1126/science.aan5329
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on 22/09/2017 Vol. 357, DOI: 10.1126/science.aan5329.
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
UNSPECIFIEDIZA (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit)http://viaf.org/viaf/130150520
Women's Leadership in Small and Medium Enterprises (WLSME) trust fundWorld Bank Grouphttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004421
Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE)World Bank Grouphttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004421
Africa Gender Innovation Lab and Trade and Competitiveness Global PracticeWorld Bankhttp://viaf.org/viaf/271359876
UNSPECIFIEDInnovations for Poverty ActionUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDTógó. Ministry of CommerceUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDTógó. Project Coordination Unit of the Private Sector Development Support ProjectUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDWAGESUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDFUCECUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDCECAUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDAPROMAUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDDOSIUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDAFCETUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDCRM - LomeUNSPECIFIED

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