Short messages fall short for micro-entrepreneurs: Experimental evidence from Kenya
This policy brief presents findings from a field experiment aimed at studying the demand for SMS-based business trainings and their potential for improving management and business outcomes amongst micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya.
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Mehmood-Policy-Brief-March-2024.pdf
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- This brief presents findings from a field experiment aimed at studying the demand for SMS-based business trainings and their potential for improving management and business outcomes amongst micro-entrepreneurs in Kenya.
- Three months after the intervention, SMS-based business trainings improved knowledge and adoption of best practices and business outcomes, particularly for younger micro-entrepreneurs. However, all engagement with the content ended within the first five months, and all observed positive impacts disappeared twelve months after the intervention. The results are contrary to the priors held by social science researchers, who overestimate the effectiveness of SMS-based business trainings.
- Notwithstanding the lack of longer-run impacts, micro-entrepreneurs were willing to pay a small amount for additional SMS-based trainings, suggesting that they still value access to the content.
- This evidence highlights the limitations of SMS-based trainings for improving longer-run outcomes for micro-entrepreneurs and reveals that researchers are over-optimistic about the potential impacts. It also points towards possible behavioural drivers limiting the potential of remotely provided information-based support in low-capacity contexts.