The development objective of Unleashing Productive Innovation Project is to expand the Argentina's capacity to generate productive innovation in knowledge-based areas by: (a) facilitating the creation of new knowledge-based companies; (b) developing specialized human capital; (c) supporting productive research innovation activities and their technology commercialization in the areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology and information and communication technology; (d) upgrading the research infrastructure in the areas of science, technology and productive innovation; and (e) strengthening the policy framework governing science, technology, and productive innovation.
... Exibir mais + This restructuring requires the extension of the project closing date by twelve months from September 25, 2018 to September 25, 2019.
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Recent studies have suggested that women's business decisions are influenced by members of their household, especially their spouse, and that these intrahousehold dynamics contribute to gender gaps in entrepreneurship outcomes.
... Exibir mais + This in-depth qualitative study among microentrepreneurs in urban Ghana sought to understand the connections between women's businesses and their households' management of economic resources. The findings show that women’s business decisions are influenced by: (1) a desire to reinforce their partner's responsibilities as a primary provider, (2) attempts to fulfill normative expectations regarding daily provision of needs for the family, and (3) a need to prepare for long-term security. To reinforce their husband's responsibilities as a provider, women hid income and savings, and sometimes explicitly limited business growth. To ensure their ability to smooth household consumption and respond to emergencies, women prioritized savings over investment. And, to plan for their long-term security, women opted for cautious business investment, maintaining pressure on their partner to meet current needs and investing in children and property for the future. More broadly, the findings illustrate that interpersonal interactions concerning the management of economic resources are an integral part of how household members negotiate their rights and responsibilities in relation to each other.
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Documento de trabalho sobre pesquisa de políticas WPS8550 AUG 13, 2018
This paper explores the impact of large, individual-liability loans on the growth of women-owned microenterprises in Ethiopia. Traditionally, microfinance institutions in Ethiopia have primarily catered to female enterprises with group lending schemes that provide very small loans.
... Exibir mais + The limitations of this model are two-fold: in addition to these micro-loans being too small in size to fuel meaningful business growth, many of the female enterprises that are targeted with these loans face binding constraints, such as concentration in lower-growth sectors, lack of alternative job opportunities, limitations on time and mobility, and restrictive gender norms. The paper investigates the impact of credit to female entrepreneurs in a novel context, by examining larger loans, provided to growth-oriented women entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs fall in the "missing middle" or "meso-finance" segment of the financial market because their credit needs are too large for microfinance, but not large enough for commercial banks. The paper uses a propensity score matching methodology to examine the impact of loans offered to women as part of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project, a program funded by the World Bank International Development Association, that targets growth-oriented women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia. The results suggest that large, individual-liability loans can make a significant difference in accelerating growth in the business incomes and employment levels of women-owned enterprises.
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Documento de trabalho sobre pesquisa de políticas WPS8511 JUL 10, 2018
Ratings for the Inclusive Innovation Project for Vietnam were as follows: outcomes were unsatisfactory, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the monitoring and evaluation quality was modest.
... Exibir mais + Some lessons learned included: given that this was a pilot project in Vietnam, the implementation readiness could have been emphasized further during project preparation evaluating the capacity of the various implementing agencies and conducting a demand analysis of the grants among prospective applicants. This could have helped prevent some of the delays faced during implementation. The Inclusive Innovation Project demonstrates the need for Bank teams to realistically assess the suitability of project design to its operating environment. While the Bank team acknowledged the cumbersome approval procedures and processes in Vietnam, the team seemed to view the DPM chairing of the Project Steering Committee as a sufficient mitigation measure. During the project design, the DPM and the Vice Minister MoST were strong champions for the project. However, once the project was approved there were a change of leadership and hence a shift in the priorities. The lesson learnt was that while strong champions are important, the project implementation needs to be simple with clear communication and accountability on the part of all the relevant implementation agencies. Though government had agreed during preparation, to the project structure and processes, the government appeared uncomfortable about giving matching grants to private sector actors. The government view was that as the private sector were beneficiaries of funds from the government and therefore government should decide on what was to be considered an innovation sub-project and who the beneficiaries should be, despite the project having clearly established and transparent procedures for this purpose (including an independent technical evaluation panel). In the context of Vietnam, the matching grants instrument may require more client buy-in upfront, through sharing of learning from other countries where matching grants have been used successfully to strengthen the private sector).
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Conclusão da Implementação e Relatórios sobre Resultados 126482 MAY 22, 2018
In an environment of changing commodity prices, complex socio-environmental dynamics, and increasing interest in sustainability, oil, gas and mining (OGM) companies are striving to identify better, more responsible business practices that also contribute to a healthy bottom line.
... Exibir mais + A growing body of evidence demonstrates that gender equity is a key determinant for firm performance. Gaining input from both men and women in host communities is critical to securing a company’s social license and in helping OGM companies operate responsibly. Increasingly, OGM companies are recognizing that equitable participation from men and women—as managers, employees, suppliers, and partners in community growth—will play a key role in realizing their goals for sustainable, responsible, and profitable business. Institutional investors and multilateral banks have also started to recognize gender as a factor in their investment decisions. Working equitably with men and women—within the company, as suppliers, and in host communities makes strong business sense. This toolkit presents detailed, step-by-step guidance for companies to work towards this goal in each of these areas. The toolkit is a modular, customizable guide that includes four tool suites focused on different issues: increasing gender diversity from the workforce to the boardroom; women-owned businesses and the supply chain; women and community engagement; and addressing gender-based violence in the workforce.
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This note investigates the nature of corporate savings in South Africa. The first part focuses on the empirical impact of uncertainty on investment in the manufacturing sector, while the second part discusses factors influencing corporate cash hoarding and assesses whether South African firms’ behavior is peculiar.
... Exibir mais + The results show that sectoral and systemic risks – our measures of uncertainty – consistently impede investment in the South African manufacturing sector, which could explain in part for firms increasing their savings. Further reasons for that behavior include precautionary measures when economic conditions are unfavorable, increasing appetite for investment abroad at the expense of domestic investment, cash provision for amortization purposes and balance sheet management.
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