"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."

"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."

"The African Agricultural Capital Fund, managed by Pearl Capital Partners, primarily invests in small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in East Africa.

This case study gives an overview of the fund, describes its capital structure, its primary impact governance mechanisms, and the stakeholders’ key risk mitigation strategies. To provide additional insight into the motivations and decisions that shaped the impact investment, interviews with representatives of the four investors and the fund manager are included."

"This primer is for philanthropists and social investors who want to learn more about the role of philanthropic capital in strengthening and growing enterprises. It serves as a "how-to" guide to social enterprise philanthropy by providing an overview of this sector and information about how philanthropists can most effectively work within it to achieve high social impact."

"This Issue Brief is presented as an introductory guide to help investors and advisors construct portfolios that integrate impact appropriately across asset classes. We refer to this as Total Portfolio Management. This guide builds upon and summarizes the excellent work introduced by various thought leaders and investment experts whose efforts are driving the field of impact investment forward."

"This issue brief is an addendum to the global COVID-19 issue brief published by ANDE. It summarizes the initial evidence emerging from the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem, including challenges, risks, and needs that have arisen from the community, to help guide the response. The research for this brief was developed as part of the Global Inclusive Growth Partnership, a joint collaboration between the Aspen Institute and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth."

"This report takes stock of the market for impact investing and examines the conditions that would allow the market to grow and realize its potential. Historically, there have always been investors who cared about more than just financial returns. Governments and philanthropists, for example, have set up investment vehicles with mandates to promote social and environmental goals. Over the last decade, impact investing has gained prominence as an approach to investment that aims to achieve both financial returns and social or environmental goals. This has created a dynamic but somewhat disorganized market of diverse participants, standards, and concepts. Although still small, the market is attracting considerable interest, and it has the potential to increase in scale, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate goals."

"With the trend to conduct rigorous impact evaluations of development interventions, many researchers have started to look more closely at programmes and policies that either directly intend to create jobs or that generate jobs indirectly. This note summarises the main lessons that can be drawn from these studies. It is based on a comprehensive systematic review commissioned by the evaluation unit of KfW Development Bank (Grimm and Paffhausen, 2014). The review revealed several factors and design features likely to make job creation interventions successful. However, these findings have to be taken with care because evidence is still scarce. First and foremost, the review underlines how little we actually know about how to create jobs. This stands in sharp contrast to the high number of programmes and projects that claim to know -- and on which considerable funds are being spent."

"Creating Markets has been part of the World Bank Group's development agenda for at least the last 15 years. The 2002 World Bank Group's Private Sector Development Strategy, for example, identified the ingredients for market creation, including sound rules, the expectation that such rules be adhered to, and physical access to markets. Because of IFC's and the Bank Group's long history supporting market creation in its client countries, the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has identified many lessons of experience in recent evaluations that are relevant to such efforts.

As the IFC implements its new corporate strategy, the rationale for this evaluation is to share those lessons of experience and add to them with findings from a set of purposefully selected case studies across sectors and countries at different stages of development."