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“Female Entrepreneurship and Professional Networks: Experimental Evidence from Ghana”
20th Nov 2024 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
SALDRU Seminar
Presenters: Edward Asiedu
Date: 20 November 2024
Time: 13:00-14:00
Venue: Seminar room, 4th floor, School of Economics, UCT
(light lunch served from 12:30 in adjacent staff lounge)
Format: In-person
Please RSVP for catering purposes by Friday 15 November
Dear friends and colleagues,
Please join us for our final seminar of 2024, to be presented by J-PAL affiliated professor, Edward Asiedu, on female entrepreneurship and professional networks in Ghana.
Abstract:
Female-owned businesses continue to be smaller and less profitable than male-owned firms. We conduct a randomized control trial in Ghana on a sample of 1,771 growth-oriented female entrepreneurs to investigate the effect of online networking groups on firm performance. We find that access to online networking opportunities leads to greater innovation, better business practices and higher profits by 21%. The increase in profits is concentrated in the upper tail of the distribution. The treatment shifts business collaborations from friends and family members to business network members in the intervention. We find the largest effects for those in groups with more-educated, higher-quality, and more diverse entrepreneurs. Our findings reveal that a low-cost, light-touch online intervention that increases networking opportunities can effectively improve outcomes of female-owned firms.
About the presenter:
Edward Asiedu is a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School and a J-PAL affiliated professor. His research is centred around topics in development economics (firms, agriculture, education, and health), labour economics, behavioural and experimental economics, and the design and impact evaluation of development projects. Edward is also a co-founder of AKWAABA Lab in Ghana, a lab focused on using randomized control trials (RCTs) and lab-in-the-field experiments to improve understanding of the challenges faced by the poor and test potential solutions. Edward received his PhD in economics from the University of Gottingen
Kind regards
SALDRU