Cash and Small Business Groups for Ugandans and Refugees

Travis Baseler, Thomas Ginn (), Ibrahim Kasirye, Belinda Muya () and Andrew Zeitlin
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Thomas Ginn: Center for Global Development
Belinda Muya: International Rescue Committee

No 716, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: Constraints that inhibit small business growth are potentially amplified for groups with limited access to existing business networks like refugees and women. Programs that facilitate intergroup contact, in addition to capital, could potentially raise welfare, especially if incentives are aligned for participants to share information and invest effort in each other's outcomes. In a randomized trial with microentrepreneurs, we vary business grants, inclusion in a mentorship group, the gender and nationality composition of groups, and a "shared fate" component that compensates group members for the success of other members’ businesses. We find that grants substantially improve business outcomes for men, women, refugees, and hosts. Combining mentorship with cash has an additional positive effect for refugee men, but a negative effect relative to cash alone for women who run higher-profit firms. Mentors with higher baseline profits significantly improve mentees' business outcomes, while differences across group gender and nationality compositions are small. The shared fate addition worsens early outcomes in aligned groups but does not affect mixed groups.

Keywords: Microentrepreneurship; Networks; Mentorship; Refugees (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 D74 D83 L14 L26 O12 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 67 pages
Date: 2025-03-31
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:716

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