"This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the effects of mentoring on SMEs in Norway. We aim to get a better understanding of firm development and dynamics in the presence of public interventions. Does mentoring affect firm performance and firm-survival? Does it matter what type of state aid a firm is granted; mentoring versus the financial equivalent of the service?"

"This article presents an innovative method of engaging MBA students in a capstone course by offering a customizable project with businesses that are currently progressing through a regional, independent incubator, or accelerator program. We include various project options but focus on customizable capstone project alternatives to traditional business strategy simulations and case study methods. Namely, our innovative learning solution is a mock consulting project which drives innovation and fosters strategic collaboration between small business owners, university faculty, and MBA students while providing business strategy experience and generating positive exposure for both the university and the small businesses involved. Our method includes pairing MBA students with participating startup businesses and allowing the soon-to-be MBAs an opportunity to garner consulting experience while simultaneously serving the needs of the businesses in the accelerator. Accordingly, MBA students act as consultants to business owners and prepare detailed weekly briefings to inform stakeholders within the university and the constituent businesses. By breaching the typical capstone project parameters, the mock consulting option provides for experiential and applied learning experiences for MBA students and develops higher order strategic thinking by challenging them to work hand-in-hand with real startups."

"There is widespread recognition that unleashing women's talent as entrepreneurs is an effective way to narrow the current gender gaps in the labor market, and thus contribute to inclusive growth. A number of governments, donors, development partners, investors, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) have geared up to work toward this objective. This report is intended to guide effective decision-making by these stakeholders with regard to supporting women's entrepreneurship in Asia and the Pacific.1 It provides recommendations for programs and policy changes that will create an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs, as well as strategies for addressing gaps and leveraging opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the region."

"Current women's economic empowerment interventions are not enough to overcome all obstacles facing female entrepreneurs. The emerging evidence from psychology and experimental economics on agency; mindset, and leadership show that for successful interventions to be transformative, they need to move beyond basic access to financial and human capital and also tackle central psychological, social, and skills constraints on women entrepreneurs.

Emerging evidence from recent studies on different capital-based, training-based, and gender based interventions, using randomized control trials, present promising interventions to support women entrepreneurs. An experimental study in Uganda found that Providing financial capital (i.e., subsidized microcredit coupled with Start and Improve Your Business training module), while effective for men, does not have any impact on female owned enterprise profits. Similarly, a randomized control trial on Tanzania's Business Women Connect program found that while the mobile savings program substantially increased savings, it did not have an effect on female-owned enterprise profits or sales even when combined with hard business skills, such as business management, basic profitability concepts, and record-keeping. Both studies, however, show that loans paired with business trainings as well as improved access to mobile savings accounts paired with business trainings had a positive impact on male-owned microenterprise profits or sales. Thus, a successful women's economic empowerment intervention needs more than only access to financial capital and hard business skills."

"The digital context of equity crowdfunding broadens and diversifies the pool of potential investors and is thus touted as a means to democratize access to capital for non-traditional innovators. It is unclear whether such democratization also applies to user entrepreneurs. User innovators are consumers who create products with the goal of serving their own unmet needs; if they subsequently pursue entrepreneurship as a means to commercialize their innovations they become user entrepreneurs. Importantly, user innovators are significant contributors to consumer product innovation. In contrast, traditional entrepreneurs, also called producer entrepreneurs, create products with the goal of profiting from them. We examine whether investors in equity crowdfunding respond differently to user entrepreneurs relative to traditional producer entrepreneurs, and explore heterogeneity in investor responses. Through a randomized field experiment, we find that less experienced investors are more receptive to user innovators than investors with more experience. Experienced investors are significantly less interested in ventures by user innovators, relative to those by producer innovators, likely due to experienced investors' concern about the ability of user entrepreneurs to commercialize their ideas. Consequently, the democratization of access to capital for user entrepreneurs comes from less experienced investors who are often inaccessible in traditional investment settings."

"Does growth training help entrepreneurs to scale-up new ventures? Our field experiment answering this question uses a sample of 181 startup founders from the population of Singapore-based entrepreneurs in 2017. The treatment consisted of classroom sessions conducted in workshop and lecture formats that provided content in growth-catalyst tools comprising of effective business model design, building effective venture management teams and leveraging personal networks, that help in entrepreneurial resource mobilization. Also, participants received individualized business coaching addressing their venture's issues and challenges in these domains. Our results show that entrepreneurs that received training in the three growth-catalyst tools achieved higher sales and employee growth for their ventures. In addition, entrepreneurs with higher educational attainment, higher prior work experience and higher growth goals benefited much more from the training intervention."

"We consider the role that gender-stereotyped behaviors play in investors' evaluations of men- and women-owned ventures. Contrary to research suggesting that investors exhibit bias against women, we find that being a woman entrepreneur does not diminish interest by investors. Rather, our findings reveal that investors are biased against the display of feminine-stereotyped behaviors by entrepreneurs, men and women alike. Our study finds that investor decisions are driven in part by observations of gender-stereotyped behaviors and the implicit associations with the entrepreneur's business competency, rather than the entrepreneur's sex."

"Developmental Evaluation (DE) is an evaluation approach that can assist social innovators develop social change initiatives in complex or uncertain environments. DE originators liken their approach to the role of research & development in the private sector product development process because it facilitates real-time, or close to real-time, feedback to program staff thus facilitating a continuous development loop."

"Through our analyzes of over 30 models of smallholder service delivery, in 16 different counties, we have been able to identify best practices and key drivers for farmer resilience and business sustainability. Here, in this report we share with you our findings. Read on to better understand the key leverage points for creating systemic improvements in delivery systems. The data we’ve gathered, and patterns observed should enable farmers, service providers and investors to make smarter decisions for sustainable growth. Couple this with innovative blended finance, to de-risk investments, and we will be able to unlock billions of dollars in smallholder agriculture to take these models to scale."

"Presenting rigorous and original research, this volume offers key insights into the historical, cultural, social, economic and political forces at play in the creation of world-class ICT innovations in Kenya. Following the arrival of fiber-optic cables in 2009, Digital Kenya examines why the initial entrepreneurial spirit and digital revolution has begun to falter despite support from motivated entrepreneurs, international investors, policy experts and others. Written by engaged scholars and professionals in the field, the book offers 15 eye-opening chapters and 14 one-on-one conversations with entrepreneurs and investors to ask why establishing ICT start-ups on a continental and global scale remains a challenge on the "Silicon Savannah". The authors present evidence-based recommendations to help Kenya to continue producing globally impactful ICT innovations that improve the lives of those still waiting on the side-lines, and to inspire other nations to do the same."