Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition

Abstract

Almost all firms in developing countries

Bangladesh Jobs Diagnostic

“…It is also critical for the creation of better quality jobs. While there remains some debate on which types of firms create the most jobs-microenterprises versus large establishments, newly created versus old enterprises-the literature has come to some consensus on the importance of young, dynamic, high-growth enterprises (sometimes referred to as "gazelles"), even if there is no agreement on how to identify these firms ex ante (see Audretsch 1995;Dwyer and Kotey 2016;McKenzie 2015). However, there is little debate that productivity enhancement of firms, of all ages and sizes, matters greatly for the delivery of sustainable, quality jobs.…”

Identifying Gazelles: Expert Panels vs. Surveys as a Means to Identify Firms with Rapid Growth Potential

“…See Klinger and Schundeln (2011) for analysis of a similar competition run by Technoserve in three Central American countries. McKenzie (2015) reports on the results of a business plan competition in Nigeria while Fafchamps and Quinn (2015) report on a business plan competition in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia.…”

Employment and productivity growth in Tanzania’s service sector

“…The winners were given a substantial amount of moneyon average US$50,000-to implement their business plans. Three years after the implementation, a follow-up survey of these businesses showed that the programme had been successful in helping the winning firms to achieve higher survival rates, acquire more capital and employ more workers (McKenzie 2015). MSME-financing programmes in Tanzania, on the other hand, make no attempt to screen firms for their growth potential.…”