Team Details:

 Theme/Relevant Ministry:

BUSINESS, INVESTMENT AND EXPORT:
Trade Development Authority of Pakistan

Project Brief:

The adoption of information communication and digital technology is increasingly being considered an enabler for women entrepreneurs in building personal and firm capabilities and improving access to the markets. Women’s participation in entrepreneurship in Pakistan is low due to the region’s challenging socio, cultural, and institutional context. In such a scenario, technology and its adoption offer promising potential for women entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses.  Given this, the proposed project intends to do an impact assessment of the TDAP women entrepreneurs training program, which can address the existing gaps in training and capacity building of women entrepreneurs for digital literacy in Pakistan and can propose specific public policies that promote high-quality, evidence-based professional development opportunities to support women’s economic empowerment. Through an exploratory study based on mixed methods, we seek to elicit rich contextual & empirical insights into technology adoption experiences in women entrepreneurs.

Public Policy Relevance:

Conducting exploratory research in this area can help equip Pakistani policymakers who are looking for priority interventions that are most effective in boosting productivity growth of the firms and fostering a more equitable business environment. With evidence on the effectiveness of training programs for women entrepreneurs, the project findings will equip these stakeholders with knowledge and data to support their decision-making and design of training and capacity-building programs on digital literacy. This research area remains particularly relevant for policymakers who are interested in speeding up the process of technology diffusion and want to alleviate barriers to women’s participation by enhancing digital literacy.