McKenzie, David2015-08-172015-08-172015-08https://hdl.handle.net/10986/22437Almost all firms in developing countries have fewer than 10 workers, with the modal firm consisting of just the owner. Are there potential high-growth entrepreneurs with the ability to grow their firms beyond this size? And, if so, can public policy help alleviate the constraints that prevent these entrepreneurs from doing so? A large-scale national business plan competition in Nigeria is used to help provide evidence on these two questions. The competition was launched with much fanfare, and attracted almost 24,000 entrants. Random assignment was used to select some of the winners from a pool of semi-finalists, with US$36 million in randomly allocated grant funding providing each winner with an average of almost US$50,000. Surveys tracking applicants over three years show that winning the business plan competition leads to greater firm entry, higher survival of existing businesses, higher profits and sales, and higher employment, including increases of over 20 percentage points in the likelihood of a firm having 10 or more workers. These effects appear to occur largely through the grants enabling firms to purchase more capital and hire more labor.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOEQUIPMENTACCOUNTINGENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTCUSTOMERINSTALLATIONCERTIFICATEMATERIALSSALESRADIO STATIONSE-COMMERCEMEDIUM ENTERPRISESBUSINESS SCHOOLSINFORMATIONSELLINGMONITORINGENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLBUSINESS NETWORKSIMPACT ASSESSMENTMEDIUM ENTERPRISECONSULTANTSIMPACTSNEW PRODUCTSDISTRIBUTIONBREAKEVEN ANALYSISCASHFLOWBUDGET CONSTRAINTSCOMPUTER TRAININGPRICEOWNERSHIPVERIFICATIONRETAIL TRADEPLANNINGTIME PERIODENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLSQUALITYPERSONAL INFORMATIONREPORTINGTRAINING COURSEREGISTRYCOMPUTEROPEN ACCESSSATELLITETELEVISIONCOST EFFECTIVENESSINSTITUTIONSDATAADVERTISINGTECHNICAL ASSISTANCECOMMERCECONTROL SYSTEMSACQUISITIONBUSINESS INNOVATIONIMPACT EVALUATIONLICENSELOGISTICSTARGETSBUSINESS OWNERSHIPPRODUCTIVITYBUSINESS OPERATIONCRITERIADIRECT COSTSMARKETINGMARKETING STRATEGYPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS INPUTSINVENTORIESEMPLOYMENT CREATIONINVENTORYRADIOACCOUNTBUSINESS ECONOMICSBUSINESS APPLICATIONSTELEPHONEBUSINESS ORGANIZATIONRESOURCESMANUFACTURINGPHONETECHNOLOGYMARKET SEGMENTATIONTRAINING COURSESINVENTORY LEVELSVERTICAL INTEGRATIONBUSINESS PLANTIME FRAMESOFTWARECUSTOMER BASERESULTSNETWORKSCOSTPRIVATE SECTORBALANCE SHEETTRANSPARENT WAYQUALITY CONTROLMARKETING RESEARCHRESULTINNOVATION POLICYSECURITYBUSINESSESBUSINESS IDEASBUSINESSNETWORKBUSINESS LEADERSPERFORMANCEPURCHASINGBUSINESS PLANSFINANCIAL PLANNINGINNOVATIONINSTITUTIONBUSINESS SECTORSPROFITACCOUNTSCOMMUNICATIONQUALITY ASSURANCENEW TECHNOLOGYCUSTOMERSBUSINESS IDEACOST PER JOBCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGYPROFITSCUSTOMER DEMANDBUSINESS RESEARCHGROWTH POTENTIALIMPLEMENTATIONTARGETUSESCASH FLOWBUSINESS TRAININGWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7391