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This study used a matched comparison group, quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of MEPs in the United States. The intervention group consisted of low-income microentrepreneurs who participated in an MEP at one of seven programs in the United States. The first comparison group consisted of low-income, self-employed persons who did not participate in one of the MEPs, and the second comparison group consisted of low-income wage workers who were not self-employed. The study used data from the Aspen Institute's Self-Employment Learning Project (SELP) on intervention group members and selected the comparison group by matching intervention group members to Panel Study of Income Dynamics respondents based on age, education, race, gender, marital status, and the presence of young children. This review focuses on comparing the intervention group and the first comparison group, which consists of low-income, self-employed individuals. Another review examines the comparison of people in the intervention group and the second comparison group, which consists of low-income workers who were not self-employed.
1991 to 1995
The study research was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation to the Center for Social Development at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis.
Women Venture (St. Paul, MN); Women's Self-Employment Project (Chicago, IL); Institute for Social and Economic Development (Iowa City, IA); Coalition for Women's Economic Development (Los Angeles, CA); Good Faith Fund (Pine Bluff, AR); Rural Economic Development Center (Raleigh, NC); and Portable Practical Education Program/Micro Industry Rural Credit Organization (Southwest United States).
The SELP was a five-year study created in 1991 with support from the Ford and C.S. Mott Foundations. The purpose was to document and evaluate microenterprise program strategies and the effects of program services on clients and their businesses over time in seven programs across the United States.
Individuals in the intervention condition received services from one of seven local MEPs. These programs provided training, technical assistance, and access to credit (including through peer-lending programs) for low-income individuals operating small businesses.
The comparison group consists of low-income, self-employed individuals who did not participate in any of the studied MEPs.
None.
The MEPs were implemented in the following seven locations in the United States: St. Paul, MN; Chicago, IL; Iowa City, IA; Los Angeles, CA; Pine Bluff, AR; Raleigh, NC; and in the Southwest along the U.S.–Mexico border.
Household poverty