Publication: Soft Skills for Hard Constraints: Evidence from High-Achieving Female Farmers
Date
2017-07
ISSN
Published
2017-07
Author(s)
Abstract
Most women farmers in developing
countries engage in subsistence agriculture. Previous
research highlights a variety of barriers hindering women’s
ability to participate in the production and marketing of
cash crops, which though riskier can be much more
profitable. A study by the World Bank’s Africa Gender
Innovation Lab, the Living Standards Measurement Study and
Methods Team, and the National University of Singapore
Business School, provides evidence that noncognitive
entrepreneurial skills, such as the will to persevere,
optimism, and passion for work play a decisive role – even
more so in communities where women face greater constraints
to their economic empowerment. Overall, the authors findings
complement the growing literature in psychology and
economics documenting the importance of noncognitive skills
in determining important economic outcomes. For more
information visit us at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-gender-innovation-lab.
Citation
“Montalvao, Joao; Frese, Michael; Goldstein, Markus; Kilic, Talip. 2017. Soft Skills for Hard Constraints : Evidence from High-Achieving Female Farmers. Gender Innovation Lab Policy Brief;No. 20. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27952 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”