Record Details

The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/H74D2A
 
Creator Karlan, Dean
Bruhn, Miriam
Schoar, Antoinette
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Using a randomized evaluation with 432 Mexican small and medium enterprises, we show that access to management consulting had positive effects on total factor productivity and return-on-assets (about 0.2 standard deviations, relative to the control group). Owners also had significant increase in “entrepreneurial spirit” (an index that measures entrepreneurial confidence and goal setting). Using Mexican social security data, we find a persistent large increase (about 50%) in the number of employees and total wage bill even five years after the program. We document large heterogeneity in the specific managerial practices that improved as a result of the consulting, but the three most prominent areas are marketing, financial accounting, and long-term business planning.
 
Subject Social Sciences
Enterprise growth
Entrepreneurship
Managerial capital
 
Language English
Spanish, Castilian
 
Contributor Research Support, Innovations for Poverty Action
 
Type Survey data (baseline and two endlines)
Administrative data