E-Bookkeeping: Measuring small firm behaviour
Little is known about the behaviour of small businesses in low-income countries, particularly pertaining to their practices around record-keeping. This project explores how small businesses in low-income countries can be induced to keep product-level records and whether they can actually, tangibly, benefit from record-keeping, as it has been found to improve decision making.
Can product-level data recording by small business owners enable them to improve their business practices and outcomes, in addition to improving the accuracy of firm data available to researchers and policymakers in low-income countries?
Anecdotally, business owners in these contexts have been reluctant to keep thorough records of their products due to perceived lack of benefits (in relation to large attentional, mental, and time costs) and the desire to not leave a trail for tax authorities.
The project seeks to study the impact of more granular product-level data, as these pieces of information are more digestible and actionable for businesses, improving the likelihood that they will continue to record it. The granular data will be aggregated up by those interested to get more macro-insights into the small business.
