ANDE Research Initiative: Small and Growing Businesses and Poverty
1^st Request for Proposals - 2012

In 2012, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) announced the ANDE Research Initiative, a new program that will support research on the impact of small and growing businesses (SGBs) on poverty. Through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, and the Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank, ANDE will fund research that examines the following broad research questions:

What kinds of SGBs employ or engage poor and low income people, and will these SGBs help people out of poverty? Specifically:

• What are the financial and non-financial impacts (health, family welfare, spillover effects on the community) of SGB-provided jobs, compared to the alternative sources of employment available to the poor?
• What are the impacts of the essential products and services (such as energy, water, health care) provided by SGBs, compared to alternative sources available to the poor?

To learn more about the Research Initiative, we highly recommend reading ANDE’s review of existing literature – “Small and Growing Businesses: Investing in the Missing Middle for Poverty Alleviation”.

The 2012 grant recipients were announced on September 27th at the ANDE 2012 Annual Conference. Please see below.

More Sweatshops for Africa? An Experimental Study of Firms, Factory Labor, and Poverty Alleviation
Country of Project: Ethiopia
Dr. Christopher Blattman, Columbia University, Innovations for Poverty Action
Dr. Stefan Dercon, Oxford University, Innovations for Poverty Action
Awarded $120,000

The Effects of Small-Scale Electricity Systems on Rural Communities in South Asia
Country of Project: India and Bangladesh
Davida Wood (PhD) and Bharath Jairaj, Senior Associates, Sanjoy Sanyal, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Narasimha Rao (PhD), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) 2011, Austria
Awarded $120,000

Evaluating Household Level Impacts of Small & Growing Business Creation and Impact Investing in Peru
Country of Project: Peru
Jason Spindler: Founding Partner of I-DEV International & Managing Director (based in I-DEV’s South American Office in Peru)
Martin Benavides: Executive Director & Senior Researcher, Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo – GRADE, Peru
Awarded $160,000