Essays in Development Economics: Evidence on Entrepreneurship, Digitization, and Gender

Abstract

This dissertation comprises three chapters in the field of development economics, with a focus on the role of entrepreneurship and digitalization for marginalized communities. Chapters 1 and 2 are motivated by social norms and childcare responsibilities that constrain women’s mobility, skill investments, and work. While these ‘glass walls’ may be hard to cross, I study whether digital technologies might allow women to access opportunities within them. In chapter 1, I investigate the promise of social media in expanding market access and growth for mobility-constrained female entrepreneurs living in conservative settings. In a study with more than 1,000 low-income female business owners in Jordan, I find that random access to Facebook marketing outsourcing and support enhances business survival and performance. I use machine learning heterogeneity analysis to explore who benefits from digital access, and find that women with limited physical mobility at baseline benefit more than high mobility women. In chapter 2, I experimentally investigate whether online information alone, without outsourcing or support, can expand women’s entry to and success in home-based entrepreneurship. I find that despite its virtual format and focus on working from home, an online business training program in Jordan fails to attract low mobility women at the same rate as high mobility women, and that it has limited effect on business outcomes. Treated participants were also more likely to agree with statements that restrict women’s work outside the home, suggesting that information on home-based opportunities without an experienced increase in income might reinforce views that tie women to the domestic sphere. In chapter 3, I collaborate with coauthors Kartik Srivastava and Alp Sungu to study store credit, a system of deferred payments offered by small businesses to their customers in large parts of the developing world. We employ an intensive data collection exercise at local shops in an urban Indian settlement and randomly offer thousands of their customers either store credit, a price discount, or a business-as-usual control. We find that store credit offers increase businesses’ market access by expanding foot traffic and spending. In parallel, stores extend more credit to consumers even after the intervention concludes. Together, the results highlight the role of small businesses as local lenders and help explain the prevalence of store credit as a common consumption smoothing and market access instrument in developing countries. The findings also highlight scope to further increase access to credit by subsidizing businesses’ experimentation and lowering their default risk from lending.