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Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment

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Author Info
Suresh de Mel (University of Peradeniya)
David McKenzie (World Bank)
Christopher Woodruff (University of California, San Diego)

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Abstract

We use randomized grants to generate shocks to capital stock for a set of Sri Lankan microenterprises. We find the average real return to capital in these enterprises is 4.6%-5.3% per year), substantially higher than market interest rates. We then examine the heterogeneity of treatment effects. Returns are found to vary with entrepreneurial ability and with household wealth, but not to vary with measures of risk aversion or uncertainty. Treatment impacts are also significantly larger for enterprises owned by males; indeed, we find no positive return in enterprises owned by females. (c) 2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology..

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File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/qjec.2008.123.4.1329
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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 123 (2008)
Issue (Month): 4 (November)
Pages: 1329-1372
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:qjecon:v:123:y:2008:i:4:p:1329-1372

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. John Gibson & David McKenzie, 2007. "Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) in Household Surveys For Better Economics and Better Policy," Working Papers in Economics 07/04, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Aghion, Philippe & Bolton, Patrick, 1997. "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(2), pages 151-72, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Filmer, Deon & Pritchett, Lant, 1998. "Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data - or tears : with an application to educational enrollments in states of India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1994, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  4. David S. Lee, 2005. "Training, Wages, and Sample Selection: Estimating Sharp Bounds on Treatment Effects," NBER Working Papers 11721, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Duflo, Esther, 2005. "Growth Theory through the Lens of Development Economics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 473-552 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Simeon Djankov & Edward Miguel & Yingyi Qian & Gérard Roland & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2005. "Who are Russia's Entrepreneurs?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 587-597, 04/05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther, 2004. "Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program," CEPR Discussion Papers 4681, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Edward Miguel & Michael Kremer, 2004. "Worms: Identifying Impacts on Education and Health in the Presence of Treatment Externalities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(1), pages 159-217, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Lybbert, Travis J. & Barrett, Christopher B. & McPeak, John G. & Luseno, Winnie K., 2007. "Bayesian Herders: Updating of Rainfall Beliefs in Response to External Forecasts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 480-497, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Chikako Yamauchi, 2008. "Heterogeneity in the Returns to Investment in Poor Villages," CEPR Discussion Papers 582, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
  2. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Who Are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman v. de Soto," IZA Discussion Papers 3511, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Pascaline Dupas & Jonathan Robinson, 2009. "Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," NBER Working Papers 14693, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Terrell, Katherine, 2008. "Does Gender Matter for Firm Performance? Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia," IZA Discussion Papers 3758, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Are women more credit constrained ? experimental evidence on gender and microenterprise returns," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4746, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Abhijit Banerjee, 2008. "What is Middle Class About the Middle Classes Around the World?," Working Papers id:1363, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
  7. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2008. "Finance and economic opportunity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4468, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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