Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship : Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition

McKenzie, David

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: EQUIPMENT;    ACCOUNTING;    ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT;    CUSTOMER;    INSTALLATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7391
RP-ID  :  WPS7391

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Almost all firms in developing countrieshave fewer than 10 workers, with the modal firm consistingof just the owner. Are there potential high-growthentrepreneurs with the ability to grow their firms beyondthis size? And, if so, can public policy help alleviate theconstraints that prevent these entrepreneurs from doing so?A large-scale national business plan competition in Nigeriais used to help provide evidence on these two questions. Thecompetition was launched with much fanfare, and attractedalmost 24,000 entrants. Random assignment was used to selectsome of the winners from a pool of semi-finalists, withUS$36 million in randomly allocated grant funding providingeach winner with an average of almost US$50,000. Surveystracking applicants over three years show that winning thebusiness plan competition leads to greater firm entry,higher survival of existing businesses, higher profits andsales, and higher employment, including increases of over 20percentage points in the likelihood of a firm having 10 ormore workers. These effects appear to occur largely throughthe grants enabling firms to purchase more capital and hiremore labor.