Assessing the impacts of microenterprise interventions : a framework for analysis

This report presents a preliminary framework for assessing the impacts of such microenterprise interventions; the framework differs from conventional approaches in that it uses the household as a starting-point of analysis and for linking microenterprises to the broader economic environment. Thus, chapter 2 describes the characteristics of microenterprises and their role in promoting household security and economic growth, while chapter 3 conceptualizes the relationship among microenterprises, households, individuals, and communities and describes two key concepts for understanding economic decisionmaking: risk and assets. Chapter 4 presents a preliminary framework for analyzing how the various forms of microenterprise interventions contribute to change at the household, enterprise, individual, and community levels. Chapter 5 identifies indicators for measuring change at each level. After a discussion in chapter 6 of methodological considerations, chapter 7 proposes recommendations for USAID (a series of impact assessments to document the development impact of assistance to microenterprises, operations research to develop valid, reliable, and feasible measures of impact), as well as priority areas for future study.