American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: A Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 8,
no. 2, April 2016
(pp. 35–64)
Abstract
We show that extremely poor, war-affected women in northern Uganda have high returns to a package of $150 cash, five days of business skills training, and ongoing supervision. Sixteen months after grants, participants doubled their microenterprise ownership and incomes, mainly from petty trading. We also show these ultrapoor have too little social capital, but that group bonds, informal insurance, and cooperative activities could be induced and had positive returns. When the control group received cash and training 20 months later, we varied supervision, which represented half of the program costs. A year later, supervision increased business survival but not consumption. (JEL I38, J16, J23, J24, L26, O15, Z13)Citation
Blattman, Christopher, Eric P. Green, Julian Jamison, M. Christian Lehmann, and Jeannie Annan. 2016. "The Returns to Microenterprise Support among the Ultrapoor: A Field Experiment in Postwar Uganda." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 8 (2): 35–64. DOI: 10.1257/app.20150023Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J23 Labor Demand
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- L26 Entrepreneurship
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification