Estimating the Demand for Entrepreneurship Programs: Experimental Evidence from Jamaica

By Alessandro Maffioli, Christopher Roth, Diego Ubfal

Summary and Key Findings

The goal of this project is to understand whether it is possible and desirable to charge a positive price for entrepreneurship programs. We will elicit willingness to pay for an entrepreneurship program in Jamaica. First, we plan to estimate the demand schedule for the program. Second, we will study whether willingness to pay can act as a screening device to select entrepreneurs for participation in training programs. Third, we will test whether there is a sunk-cost effect by which those who pay a higher price for the program exercise more effort (attend the training more regularly) and achieve higher returns. This project is relevant to understand whether we can increase the effect of entrepreneurship programs by targeting, and whether providers can achieve financial sustainability by charging a positive price without screening out a large share of innovative entrepreneurs who might participate only if the program is fully subsidized.