Reproducibility package for Testing The Promise Of Digital Scaling: In-Person Versus App-Based Training For Women Entrepreneurs
Overview
In-person business training is a key tool of development policy, with over US$1 billion spent annually in low- and middle-income countries. Digital training is gaining interest for its potential to increase impact, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility — particularly for women. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial to compare app-based and in-person training, using identical curricula for women entrepreneurs. Take-up rates exceed 75 percent, but completion rates are only 22 percent for digital versus 71 percent for in-person. Further interventions fail to sustain engagement in digital training, and an additional experiment shows that removing in-person orientation leads to even lower take-up of digital training. Results indicate limited impacts on business knowledge or firm outcomes
Reproducibility Package
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Reproducibility
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: INTEL(R) XEON(R) PLATINUM 8562Y+ 2.80 GHz (4 processors)
• Memory available: 32 GB
Run time: ~ 75 minutes.
- Secure Access to Data: Access the datasets not included in the package. See subsection Datasets for more details.
- Download and Place Data: Once the data is accessed, users should place it in the appropriate folder.
- Run the Package: After placing the data in the folder:
- Update the working directory in line 33 of the do-file "master_replication", and run it.
- Open the R project "WBER_Replication.Rproj". Restore the environment by running renv::restore() and following the prompts. Open the scripts generic_inperson.R and generic_elearning.R, and run the code.
Since all the data is not included, the package includes the results produced by replicators. These files can be used to review the results presented in the paper.
Data
All data sources are publicly available, but not included in the reproducibility package. Data can be accessed from the World Bank Microdata Library.
Description
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Diego Ubfal | World Bank | dubfal@worldbank.org |
| Menaal Ebrahim | World Bank | mebrahim@worldbank.org |
| Rachel Cassidy | IFC | rcassidy@ifc.org |
2026-03-24
Scope and coverage
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia | ETH |
Disclaimer
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
Access and rights
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ |
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Menaal Ebrahim | World Bank | mebrahim@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
Information on metadata
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
2026-03-24
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