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Most support programs targeted at small firms in low- and middle-income countries fail to generate transformative effects at a large scale due to poor targeting, too little flexibility, and the limited size of the support, among others. This paper assesses the short-term effects of a randomized targeted government support program for small and medium-size firms that were selected based on a business plan competition. One group received large cash grants of up to USD 8,000, with flexible conditions of use. A second group received grants of an equally important size but earmarked to business development services and thus less flexible and with a required own contribution of 20 percent. A third group served as a control group. All the firms operate in agribusiness or related activities in a semi-urban area. An assessment of the short-term impacts shows that beneficiaries of cash grants engage in better business practices, such as formalization and bookkeeping. They also invest more. Yet, this does not translate into higher profits and employment. There is no effect on investment and business practices among beneficiaries of grants for business development services. Yet, both treatment groups show a higher ability to innovate relative to the control group. The results also show that cash grants cushioned the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A further round of data collection will soon allow assessing the longer-term effects of the interventions, which may differ from the short-term effects analyzed here as both interventions may need time to unfold their full effects.

Agribusiness --- Agriculture --- Business Development Service --- Cash Transfers --- Entrepreneurship --- Finance --- Firm Support Program --- Grants --- Private Sector Development --- Randomized Control Trial --- Safety Nets and Transfers --- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises --- Social Protections and Labor --- Social Safety Net

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"This is the story of what the most vulnerable wage earners-gig workers, restaurant staff, early-career creatives, and minimum-wage laborers-do when the economy suddenly collapses. In Side Hustle Safety Net, Alexandrea J. Ravenelle builds on interviews with nearly two hundred gig-based and precarious workers, conducted during the height of the pandemic, to uncover the unique challenges they faced in unprecedented times. This book tells the stories of the "officially Unemployed" and the "forgotten jobless"-a digital-era demographic that turned to side hustles-and reveals how they fared. CARES Act assistance allowed some to change careers, start businesses, and perhaps transform their lives. However, gig workers and those involved in "polyemployment" found themselves at the mercy of outdated unemployment systems, vulnerable to scams, and attempting dubious survival strategies. Ultimately, Side Hustle Safety Net argues that the rise of the gig economy, partnered with underemployment and economic instability, has increased worker precarity with disastrous consequences"--

Precarious employment --- Gig economy --- Underemployment --- COVID-19 (Disease) --- Independent contractors --- Economic aspects --- 1099. --- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. --- benefits. --- business. --- entrepreneur. --- freelancing. --- from home. --- gig apps. --- layoffs. --- social safety net. --- temporary jobs. --- unemployment assistance. --- workforce. --- workplace security.

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From acclaimed political scientist Diana Mutz, a revealing look at why people's attitudes on trade differ from their own self-interestWinners and Losers challenges conventional wisdom about how American citizens form opinions on international trade. While dominant explanations in economics emphasize personal self-interest-and whether individuals gain or lose financially as a result of trade-this book takes a psychological approach, demonstrating how people view the complex world of international trade through the lens of interpersonal relations.Drawing on psychological theories of preference formation as well as original surveys and experiments, Diana Mutz finds that in contrast to the economic view of trade as cooperation for mutual benefit, many Americans view trade as a competition between the United States and other countries-a contest of us versus them. These people favor trade as long as they see Americans as the "winners" in these interactions, viewing trade as a way to establish dominance over foreign competitors. For others, trade is a means of maintaining more peaceful relations between countries. Just as individuals may exchange gifts to cement relationships, international trade is a tie that binds nations together in trust and cooperation.Winners and Losers reveals how people's orientations toward in-groups and out-groups play a central role in influencing how they think about trade with foreign countries, and shows how a better understanding of the psychological underpinnings of public opinion can lead to lasting economic and societal benefits.

Management. --- United States. --- Alexandra Guisinger. --- American Opinion on Trade. --- American trade policy. --- NAFTA. --- North American Free Trade Agreement. --- US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. --- WTO. --- World Trade Organization. --- competitiveness. --- demographics. --- gender differences. --- globalization. --- international affairs. --- jobs. --- labor. --- multiculturalism. --- outgroups. --- overseas jobs. --- political economy. --- political psychology. --- racial attitudes. --- social safety net. --- sociology. --- status threat. --- trade policy. --- trade preferences. --- trade-offs. --- trolley problem. --- xenophobia. --- zero-sum.

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Today all politics are reproductive politics, argues esteemed feminist critic Laura Briggs. From longer work hours to the election of Donald Trump, our current political crisis is above all about reproduction. Households are where we face our economic realities as social safety nets get cut and wages decline. Briggs brilliantly outlines how politicians' racist accounts of reproduction-stories of Black "welfare queens" and Latina "breeding machines";-were the leading wedge in the government and business disinvestment in families. With decreasing wages, rising McJobs, and no resources for family care, our households have grown ever more precarious over the past forty years in sharply race-and class-stratified ways. This crisis, argues Briggs, fuels all others-from immigration to gay marriage, anti-feminism to the rise of the Tea Party.

Reproductive rights --- Human reproduction --- History. --- Political aspects --- abortion debate. --- anti-feminism. --- birth control. --- breeding machines. --- donald trump. --- dystopia. --- economic reality. --- feminist theory. --- gay marriage. --- gender and women studies. --- immigration. --- political activist. --- political crisis. --- professor. --- racist accounts of reproduction. --- reproductive rights. --- social activist. --- social safety net. --- tea party agenda. --- welfare queens. --- womens rights.

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The financial crisis arose in the industrial countries, but has affected developing countries through higher interest rates, sharp changes in commodity prices, and reductions in investment, trade, migration and remittances. For most low-income countries, shocks that affect food prices or wage rates for unskilled workers seem likely to have the largest impact on poverty, with the declines in key food prices associated with the crisis helping to reduce poverty, while declining trade, investment, and remittance flows have had adverse impacts on the poor. Policies to address the crisis must include measures to deal with financial sector problems, the resulting reductions in aggregate demand, and the particular vulnerabilities of poor people. Given the complexity of the impacts from financial crises and commodity price shocks, there is a strong case for developing better social safety net policies that can offset the adverse impacts of a wide range of different shocks on poor people without creating costly market distortions.

Aggregate demand --- Capital flows --- Commodity --- Commodity price --- Commodity prices --- Currencies and Exchange Rates --- Debt Markets --- Developing countries --- Economic Theory & Research --- Emerging Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial assets --- Financial crises --- Financial crisis --- Financial instruments --- Financial sector --- Financial system --- Food prices --- Income --- Industrial countries --- Interest rates --- Low-income countries --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Market distortions --- Markets and Market Access --- Private Sector Development --- Savings --- Social safety net