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Initial adoption of business practices increased management scores by 5.65 percentage points at 6 months (p < 0.01) and capital grants increased short-run investments by 179 cedis (p < 0.10). However, treatments led to non-positive or negative income shifts (capital treatment reduced stated income by 45.43 cedis, p < 0.05), causing microentrepreneurs to abandon new business practices and revert back to baseline scale within 1 to 2 years.
$100-$200 cash grants to Sri Lankan microenterprises yielded a 5 percent monthly real return on capital; directed credit expansion to Indian medium-sized firms generated an annual return on loans close to 90 percent.
At baseline, 82.5% of the 160 microentrepreneurs had never accessed formal credit markets. Over the entire two-year study period, all 160 tailors combined took a total of only 13 informal loans from non-bank sources, demonstrating near-zero reliance on informal debt markets.
Capital recipients increased short-term targeted asset investment by 179 cedis in Round 3 (p < 0.10), but experienced an average stated monthly income reduction of 45.43 cedis (p < 0.05) across pooled follow-up rounds, leading to complete disappearance of new capital investments by Round 8 (14 months post-grant).