{"type":"script","doc_desc":{"producers":[{"name":"Reproducibility WBG","abbr":"DECDI","affiliation":"World Bank - Development Impact Department","role":"Verification and preparation of metadata"}],"prod_date":"2026-03-24","version":"1"},"project_desc":{"authoring_entity":[{"name":"Diego Ubfal","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"dubfal@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Menaal Ebrahim","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"mebrahim@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Rachel Cassidy","affiliation":"IFC","email":"rcassidy@ifc.org"}],"title_statement":{"title":"Reproducibility package for Testing The Promise Of Digital Scaling: In-Person Versus App-Based Training For Women Entrepreneurs","idno":"PP_ETH_2026_600"},"data_statement":"All data sources are publicly available, but not included in the reproducibility package. Data can be accessed from the World Bank Microdata Library.","software":[{"name":"R","version":"4.5.2"},{"name":"Stata","version":"19.0 MP"}],"scripts":[{"title":"Reproducibility package for Testing The Promise Of Digital Scaling: In-Person Versus App-Based Training For Women Entrepreneurs","date":"2026-03","notes":"Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank. This reproducibility package corresponds to the journal article version of the paper. A separate reproducibility package for the working paper version is available and can be accessed here: https:\/\/reproducibility.worldbank.org\/catalog\/220","instructions":"See README in reproducibility package.","file_name":"PP_ETH_2026_600","zip_package":"PP_ETH_2026_600.zip","dependencies":"R dependencies are listed in the file renv.lock. Stata dependencies are listed in the ado folder."}],"repository_uri":[{"name":"Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank)","uri":"https:\/\/reproducibility.worldbank.org"}],"production_date":"2026-03-24","abstract":"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 \u2014 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","geographic_units":[{"name":"Ethiopia","code":"ETH"}],"keywords":[{"name":"entrepreneurship"},{"name":"training"},{"name":"digital"},{"name":"gender"},{"name":"field experiments"}],"topics":[{"id":"C93","vocabulary":"Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)","name":" Field Experiments ","url":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","uri":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","parent_id":"C9"},{"id":"J16","vocabulary":"Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)","name":" Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ","url":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","uri":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","parent_id":"J1"},{"id":"L26","vocabulary":"Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)","name":" Entrepreneurship ","url":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","uri":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","parent_id":"L2"},{"id":"O12","vocabulary":"Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)","name":" Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development ","url":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","uri":"https:\/\/www.aeaweb.org\/econlit\/jelCodes.php?view=jel","parent_id":"O1"}],"output":[{"description":"Journal Articles","title":"Testing The Promise Of Digital Scaling: In-Person Versus App-Based Training For Women Entrepreneurs","type":"Journal Article"}],"language":[{"name":"English","code":"EN"}],"technology_requirements":"Run time: ~ 75 minutes.","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.","license":[{"name":"Modified BSD3","uri":"https:\/\/opensource.org\/license\/bsd-3-clause\/"}],"contacts":[{"name":"Menaal Ebrahim","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"mebrahim@worldbank.org"},{"name":"Reproducibility WBG","affiliation":"World Bank","email":"reproducibility@worldbank.org"}],"datasets":[{"name":"Impact Evaluation of In-Person versus App-Based Training for Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia 2023","note":"Data is from the baseline and endline survey of an impact evaluation of an app-based v\/s in-person business training for women entrepreneurs. \nFiles: Data\/application_data_anon.dta; Data\/elearning_bl_fu_anon_clean.dta","access_type":"Data is publicly available but not included in the reproducibility package due to file size constraints.","license_uri":"https:\/\/microdata.worldbank.org\/terms-of-use","citation":"Ubfal, D., Cassidy, R., & Ebrahim, M. (2024). Impact Evaluation of In-Person versus App-Based Training for Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia 2023 [Data set]. World Bank, Development Data Group. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48529\/C9AX-X341","uri":"https:\/\/microdata.worldbank.org\/catalog\/6422"}],"technology_environment":"Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:\n\u2022 OS: Windows 11 Enterprise\n\u2022 Processor: INTEL(R) XEON(R) PLATINUM 8562Y+ 2.80 GHz (4 processors)\n\u2022 Memory available: 32 GB","reproduction_instructions":"1. **Secure Access to Data:** Access the datasets not included in the package. See subsection Datasets for more details.\n2. **Download and Place Data:** Once the data is accessed, users should place it in the appropriate folder.\n3. **Run the Package:** After placing the data in the folder:\n       - Update the working directory in line 33 of the do-file \"master_replication\", and run it.\n       - 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.\n\nSince 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. "},"datacite":{"creators":[{"givenName":"Diego","familyName":"Ubfal","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"World Bank"}]},{"givenName":"Menaal","familyName":"Ebrahim","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"World Bank"}]},{"givenName":"Rachel","familyName":"Cassidy","nameType":"Personal","affiliation":[{"name":"IFC"}]}],"titles":[{"lang":"en","title":"Reproducibility package for Testing The Promise Of Digital Scaling: In-Person Versus App-Based Training For Women Entrepreneurs"},{"title":"PP_ETH_2026_600","titleType":"Other"}],"publisher":"World Bank","publicationYear":"2026","types":{"resourceType":"Reproducibility package","resourceTypeGeneral":"Other"},"url":"https:\/\/reproducibility.worldbank.org\/index.php\/catalog\/study\/PP_ETH_2026_600","language":"en"},"tags":[{"tag":"Accessible Data"},{"tag":"DOI"},{"tag":"Open Code"}],"schematype":"script"}