The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bruhn, Miriam; Karlan, Dean; Schoar, Antoinette
• 署名单位: The World Bank; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Northwestern University; Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA); National Bureau of Economic Research; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/696154
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 635-687
• 关键词: firm

摘要

A randomized control trial with 432 small and medium enterprises in Mexico shows positive impact of access to 1 year of management consulting services on total factor productivity and return on assets. Owners also had an increase in entrepreneurial spirit (an index that measures entrepreneurial confidence and goal setting). Using Mexican social security data, we find a persistent large increase (about 50 percent) in the number of employees and total wage bill even 5 years after the program. We document large heterogeneity in the specific managerial practices that improved as a result of the consulting, with the most prominent being marketing, financial accounting, and long-term business planning.