Can Mobile Technology Improve Female Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Nepal

Abstract

Gender norms may constrain the ability of women to develop their entrepreneurial skills, particularly in rural areas. By bringing entrepreneurial training to women rather than requiring extended time away from home, mobile technology could open doors that would otherwise be closed. We randomly selected Nepali women to be trained as veterinary service providers known as community animal health workers. Half of the selected candidates were randomly assigned to a traditional training course requiring 35 consecutive days away from home, and half were assigned to a hybrid distance learning course requiring two shorter stays plus a table-based curriculum to be completed at home. Distance learning strongly increases women's ability to complete training as compared to traditional training. Distance learning has a larger effect than traditional training on boosting the number of livestock responsibilities women carry out at home, while also raising aspirations. Both training types increase women's control over income. Our results indicate that if anything, distance learning produced more effective community animal health workers.