"I am pleased to present the fourth annual Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Impact Report. ANDE members are united in the belief that supporting small and growing businesses in emerging markets can create lasting, positive change. By the end of 2012, more than 170 ANDE members had collectively supported tens of thousands of small business entrepreneurs in more than 150 countries. ANDE exists to strengthen this work and to promote entrepreneurship as a mechanism for prosperity creation in developing countries.

Throughout this report we have highlighted examples of the work that our members have done in the past year. These stories of collaboration represent a small fraction of the exciting initiatives that ANDE members undertook in 2012. We are pleased to have seen the growth in our sector, with an ever increasing number of actors joining the movement to support small and growing businesses. We are confident that this trend will continue as ANDE enters its fifth year."

"The mission of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is to increase the amount and effectiveness of capital and capacity development assistance for small business entrepreneurs in developing countries. With the right support, we believe that small and growing businesses (SGBs) can generate jobs and address major social and environmental problems. Ultimately, our goal is to significantly reduce poverty in the developing world."

"Este relatório oferece uma retrospectiva dos principais avanços e tendências no setor em 2019, além de insights relevantes baseados em dados iniciais e emergentes do potencial impacto da pandemia da COVID-19 nessas tendências."

"En el presente informe se ofrece un resumen retrospectivo de los principales acontecimientos y tendencias del sector en 2019, así como las percepciones pertinentes basadas en los datos iniciales y la información emergente sobre el posible impacto de la pandemia COVID-19 en esas tendencias."

"Entrepreneurial ecosystems have become a prominent concept, yet in its current state, the concept itself represents a paradox. While it draws on a rich intellectual history and provides an opportunity to synthesize different strands of research, it is also under-theorized and the mechanisms that govern ecosystem evolution are not well understood. This paper takes stock of recent advancements in ecosystem scholarship and synthesizes the empirical reality of the causal mechanisms. We use these dynamics to position ecosystems in a broader context, within and beyond the domain of entrepreneurship research, and propose a transdisciplinary research program for ecosystem research and practice."

"A large portion of economic activity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is driven by (micro)entrepreneurs, who face significant challenges in starting and running profitable businesses. More than half of workers in low- and lower middle-income countries run their own business, against around 10 percent in high-income countries (ILO, 2019). Around a third of these entrepreneurs are driven by necessity (e.g., running their own business as a means of providing a subsistence income), rather than opportunity (e.g., hoping to build a business that grows beyond the scope of subsistence needs). Well-documented barriers facing LMIC entrepreneurs include weak education systems that hamper human capital development, limited access to finance, poor infrastructure and information access, and weak institutions. Policy interventions have sought to respond to these challenges with often inconclusive or underwhelming results.

Insights from behavioral science can help us better understand how the complexities of the human decision-making process impact LMIC entrepreneurs and the policies aimed at supporting them. Behavioral science recognizes that people’s behavior does not only depend on internal drivers (personality, preferences) and external drivers (information, incentives, regulations), but also on the decision-making process itself, which is influenced by available mental resources, automatic thinking, social norms and relationships, and mental models. While these influences impact everyone, their importance is exacerbated by challenging living conditions, making them potentially more influential for individuals living in LMICs. The majority of entrepreneurship research and programming continues to focus on building capital and business skills, but adding a systematic focus on behavioral influences shows a broad range of potential barriers that might interfere with an entrepreneur’s decision-making process (Figure A). A deeper understanding of entrepreneurs’ decision-making context can help practitioners improve both their diagnosis of the obstacles facing entrepreneurs and the design of entrepreneurship-related policies and interventions."

"By investing in gender inclusion, businesses can generate opportunities for women while also furthering their business objectives. In recognition of the opportunities outlined above, the Shell Foundation and Value for Women embark on a partnership in 2016 designed to pilot a holistic framework for gender inclusion in enterprise operations, using a "bottom-up", business-first approach, aimed at testing the impact of gender inclusion on business performance. The approach first hones in on business challenges, and then designs practical, measurable solutions with a gender lens."

"This paper is aimed to support DCED member projects to integrate gender considerations more fully into private sector development (PSD) measurement systems. It takes a first step at bridging the knowledge gap by: 1. Reviewing definitions of women’s economic empowerment, 2. Identifying current measures for women’s economic empowerment in WED, and 3. Offering practical ways forward for measuring household level change in women’s economic empowerment."

"Today India, and the world, finds itself in the unenvious position of enduring two major economic recessions in a span of 10-12 years, unprecedented in modern history. In the aftermath of COVID-19, which has hit the small enterprise sector the hardest, where a majority of women-led ventures are recorded, it has become imperative to actively find avenues to encourage sustainable growth. This report delves deep into the various factors and circumstances inhibiting the growth of women-led enterprises, and further explores how women entrepreneurship can be encouraged while also being a force of change. Through various articles mentioned in this collection, which are based on original research studies conducted in this area during the pandemic, we seek to provide a snapshot of the existing obstacles, but also the way forward in promoting women entrepreneurship, which can be a major contributor in the socio-economic recovery of India."

"Globally, the literature on public sector experiences with GRP is limited. This report aims to contribute to the current knowledge base on how governments can better support women entrepreneurs and WLBs who seek to sell to the government. Most of the examples and case studies in this report come specifically from Chile, the Dominican Republic, and the City of Buenos Aires, which have developed GRP programs and are at different stages of implementation."