Partneship Lessons: SEBRAE

As part of the second round of the Metaketa Initiative, a team of principal investigators consisting of Anna-Katharina Lenz, Cesar Zucco, and Rafael Goldszmidt from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil, along with Martin Valdivia from the Group for the Analysis of Development in Peru, designed an experiment to test various interventions to encourage formalization of microentrepreneurs’ businesses and increasing their access to social security. The investigators worked with Sebrae, the main organization that promotes the development of small businesses in Brazil, to implement the experiment.

The experiment took place between March and October 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, with the target businesses being randomly assigned to one of six groups varying in intensity of intervention, from a control group on one end to businesses that received one-on-one consulting on the other. The experiment was completed successfully, with the researchers evaluating the effectiveness of each intervention based on the rate of formalization in the target businesses. They found that providing face-to-face assistance at the place of business with the offer of follow-up technical help increased formalization rates by approximately five percentage points, a substantial increase in this context. Less hands-on interventions such as WhatsApp messages increased knowledge of the formalization program but had no effect on formalization rates. Evidence also pointed to the interventions having a greater impact on individuals with lower incomes and/or less education.

EGAP interviewed Patricia Reis Pereira dos Santos and Carla Geraldo de Moraes Teixeira Panisset, two employees of Sebrae, to discuss their experience serving as the implementing partner on this project.[As published on EGAP webside] more