Evaluation and Microenterprise Programs

Mark Schreiner ()

Development and Comp Systems from EconWPA

Abstract: Microenterprise programs attempt to help poor people start or strengthen small businesses. Funding and political support has grown rapidly. Is microenterprise a good use of scarce development funds? Unfortunately, most evaluations have been case studies in what not to do. Because benefits and costs cannot be measured completely nor with perfect certainty, rigorous evaluations should support their necessarily subjective judgements with logic and explicit assumptions. The usefulness of an evaluation lies not in its (apparent) incontrovertibility but rather in its clarity of assumptions and in its openness to meaningful review and critique.

Keywords: Microenterprise; evaluation; welfare reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O51 J23 H43 N3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lam and nep-mfd
Date: 2001-09-02, Revised 2001-12-27
Note: Type of Document - Adobe Acrobat 3.0; prepared on Windows 98; to print on Adobe Acrobat 3.0; pages: 30; figures: Included in pdf file
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0108002

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