"Management has a large effect on the productivity of medium and large firms. But does management matter in micro and small firms, where the majority of the labor force in developing countries works? We develop 26 questions that measure business practices in marketing, stock-keeping, record-keeping, and financial planning. These questions have been administered in surveys in Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka. We show that variation in business practices explains as much of the variation in outcomes-sales, profits, and labor productivity and total factor productivity-in microenterprises as in larger enterprises."

"Business support interventions in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) direct a large amount of resources to SMEs, with the assumption that institutional constraints impede small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from generating profits and employment at the firm level, which in turn is thought to impede economic growth and poverty reduction. Yet despite this abundance of resources, very little is known about the impact of such interventions. To address this gap, this systematic review analyses evaluations of SME support services in LMICs to help inform policy debates pertaining to SMEs and business support services. This review examines the available evidence on the effects of SME support services in LMICs on firm-level performance indicators (such as revenues, profits, and productivity), employment generation, and labour productivity."

"The paper seeks to inform the reader with: An insider’s perspective of on-the-ground challenges faced in balancing the right mix of investments impact on missions of social enterprises [and] Recommendations that could help guide the growing social investment arena on how to support the development of sustainable social enterprises."

"According to our findings, the number of accelerators serving impact enterpriseshas grown rapidly over the last five years (over 70 percent of the accelerators surveyed were founded in 2008 or later). Despite this strong growth, there is only lim-ited research and data-driven analysis of accelerators’ role in the impact invesment ecosystem. This report aims to generate a greater understanding of accelera-tors in that sector and is part of a broader strategy to analyze, evaluate, benchmark,and strengthen accelerators. It is not intended to be a comprehensive evaluation ofimpact accelerators but an initial assessment of the landscape of these organizations."

"Climate change will have its largest impacts on developing countries, with poor populations particularly hard hit and unable to adequately adapt. There is an opportunity for developing countries to pursue a complementary approach, emphasizing building up the capabilities of local firms to participate in the business opportunities surrounding climate change. Climate change therefore represents an opportunity for developing countries to build local green industries that can drive sustainable economic growth and provide environmental benefits.

This report offers insight to policy makers and other stakeholders seeking to develop competitive green industries in developing countries. It provides an overview and estimate of the market opportunity for climate and clean technology business in developing countries over the coming decade. It identifies which aspects of these markets are most accessible to local firms and to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular. Using a newly gathered set of firm data, it identifies which parts of the value chain are already being targeted by local industry. Finally, it provides a set of actions that can be considered for countries that intend to build up local green industries."

"In this report we study the impacts of giving cash grants of approximately $150 and basic business skills training to the very poorest and most excluded women in a war-affected region, northern Uganda. The program was designed and implemented by an Italian non-governmental organization (NGO), AVSI Uganda, with decades of experience serving this population."

"At NPC we believe in impact measurement as a way for charities and funders to increase their effectiveness. We know it helps organisations improve what they do and deliver the best results for their beneficiaries...Our four pillar approach provides clear and practical guidance on developing an impact measurement framework."

"While the world has made huge economic gains over the past 50 years, this progress has been highly uneven. This is particularly acute in the agriculture sector, with many of the 500 million smallholder farmers around the world living on meager incomes and facing high levels of economic insecurity.

Despite some recent innovations and advances in including smallholders as market players, there have been few cases where truly widespread, market-level, transformative change towards inclusion has been achieved.

In this report, we explore the role of different kinds of capital in bending the arc of agricultural market development towards inclusive growth. We pay particular attention to how impact-focused players deploying capital that is flexible in terms of risk-return expectations can best deploy it in order to catalyze large-scale transformations towards inclusion."

"This introductory guide is aimed at entrepreneurs and investors who are new to the process of negotiating term sheets. It is not meant to provide legal advice; instead, it is designed to provide examples of certain common provisions that are not always easy to grasp.

This guide is a thorough summary of the options for setting up a business in Mexico including the governance clauses and the differences between legal structures. It covers third party investments to raise capitals, and explains the concepts of impact investment, capital instruments and key economic terms."

"This is a living document that aggregates crowd-sourced tips and factors to consider when conducting remote surveys (in particular phone surveys) while practicing social distancing. We will be updating this page regularly. Many thanks to those who have contributed to this collection thus far."