Workforce Development

There is a large body of evidence around innovative solutions for SME growth in low and middle-income countries. This study at Y-RISE will focus on how the effects of these intervention might change when implemented at large scale. Several types of complexities emerge at scale that can lead large-scale effects to differ from the effects measured by existing studies. We identify four such complexities. First, since entrepreneurs are constantly engaged in complex interactions with customers, suppliers, and competitors, large-scale interventions in this space are very likely to have spillovers & general equilibrium effects. Second, macroeconomic modeling can provide insights into how the effects of an intervention might ripple across the economy, e.g. from entrepreneurs to the financial sector, while also estimating multidimensional or non-monetary changes to welfare. Third, study samples may not be representative of the broader target population, so it is important to understand how treatment effects differ according to individual or contextual factors. Finally, large-scale interventions are more likely to attract the attention of political leaders and their constituents, potentially affecting political accountability and government programming.

We will address this new set of questions by centrally coordinating a large, multi-site study. In addition to systematically answering research questions that arise when taking interventions to scale, the large, multisite study will generate a wealth of practical experience that will support future scale-up efforts. This practical experience will include building partnerships with large-scale implementing organizations and refining intervention design & execution for at-scale delivery.