The Impact of Soft-Skills Training for Entrepreneurs in Jamaica

63 Pages Posted: 21 May 2019 Last revised: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Diego Ubfal

Diego Ubfal

World Bank

Irani Arraiz

InterAmerican Development Bank

Diether W. Beuermann

University of Maryland - College Park; Durham Business School; Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Universidad de Lima - Facultad de Economia

Michael Frese

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Alessandro Maffioli

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Daniel Verch

Leuphana University of Lueneburg

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

A randomized control trial with 945 entrepreneurs in Jamaica shows positive shortterm impacts of soft-skills training on business outcomes. The effects are concentrated among men, and disappear twelve months after the training. We argue that the main channel is increased adoption of recommended business practices, exclusively observed in the short run. We see persistent effects on an incentivized behavioral measure of perseverance after setbacks, a focus of this training. We compare a course focused only on soft-skills to one that combines soft-skills training with traditional business training. The effects of the combined training are never statistically significant.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, business training, soft skills

JEL Classification: J24, L25, M13, O12

Suggested Citation

Ubfal, Diego and Arraiz, Irani and Beuermann, Diether Wolfgang and Frese, Michael and Maffioli, Alessandro and Verch, Daniel, The Impact of Soft-Skills Training for Entrepreneurs in Jamaica. IZA Discussion Paper No. 12325, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3390314

Diego Ubfal (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Irani Arraiz

InterAmerican Development Bank ( email )

1300 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
United States

Diether Wolfgang Beuermann

University of Maryland - College Park ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States
240-838-9376 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.umd.edu/~beuermann

Durham Business School ( email )

Mill Hill Lane
Durham, Durham DH1 3LB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.dur.ac.uk/dbs

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) ( email )

1300 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States
202-623-2172 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.iadb.org

Universidad de Lima - Facultad de Economia ( email )

Av. Javier Prado Este s/n
Lima, Lima 33
Peru

HOME PAGE: http://www.ulima.edu.pe

Michael Frese

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

Alessandro Maffioli

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) ( email )

1300 New York Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States

Daniel Verch

Leuphana University of Lueneburg ( email )

Scharnhorststraße 1
Wilschenbrucher Weg 69
Lüneburg, 21335
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
173
Abstract Views
944
Rank
136,681
PlumX Metrics