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Does the Small Business Programme Benefit Self-Employed Workers? Evidence from Nicaragua

Author

Listed:
  • Hee-Seung Yang

    (Yonsei University)

  • Booyuel Kim

    (Seoul National University)

  • Rony Rodriguez-Ramirez

    (Yonsei University)

Abstract

Business and skills training programmes have been a popular social policy intervention to improve the performance of self-employment in developing countries. We study the Small Business of the Family Economy programme, a government business training programme designed to assist Nicaraguan self-employed workers. Using data from three rounds of the Nicaragua Living Standards Measurement Survey, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy to exploit variation in eligibility for the programme across time and economic activity. Our estimates indicate that the programme does not increase self-employed workers’ income overall. However, we find heterogeneous treatment effects for female self-employed workers with low educational attainment, which could be explained by increased working months and having a second job.

Suggested Citation

  • Hee-Seung Yang & Booyuel Kim & Rony Rodriguez-Ramirez, 2022. "Does the Small Business Programme Benefit Self-Employed Workers? Evidence from Nicaragua," Working papers 2022rwp-207, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:yon:wpaper:2022rwp-207
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; small business; business training; difference-in-differences; propensity score matching; Nicaragua.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M53 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Training

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