Friendship at Work: Can Peer Effects Catalyze Female Entrepreneurship?

Does the lack of peers contribute to the observed gender gap in entrepreneurial success? A random sample of customers of India's largest women's bank was offered two days of business counseling, and a random subsample was invited to attend with a friend. The intervention significantly incr...

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Published inAmerican economic journal. Economic policy Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 125 - 153
Main Authors Field, Erica, Jayachandran, Seema, Pande, Rohini, Rigol, Natalia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Economic Association 01.05.2016
Subjects
Banks
Business
Counseling
Economic policy
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Family income
Females
Friendship
Housewives
Labor supply
Learning
Loans
Low income groups
Mobility
Peer relationships
Peers
Professional relationships
Small business loans
Social norms
Studies
Training
Women
India
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ISSN1945-7731
1945-774X
DOI10.1257/pol.20140215

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Summary:Does the lack of peers contribute to the observed gender gap in entrepreneurial success? A random sample of customers of India's largest women's bank was offered two days of business counseling, and a random subsample was invited to attend with a friend. The intervention significantly increased participants' business activity, but only if they were trained with a friend. Those trained with a friend were more likely to have taken out business loans, were less likely to be housewives, and reported increased business activity and higher household income, with stronger impacts among women subject to social norms that restrict female mobility.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:1945-7731
1945-774X
DOI:10.1257/pol.20140215