The evaluation will measure the specific contribution of the training and support program on key business outcomes. There have been no rigorous evaluations conducted on similar programs in Morocco. Thus, the evaluation will provide critical information to the APP and the Government of Morocco regarding the effectiveness of the Enterprise Support Project and ways in which it might be improved. The following are the principle research questions the evaluation is designed to address:
Did the Enterprise Support Project contribute to an increase in revenues and profits of the participating entrepreneurs?
- Did the program improve survival rates of businesses?
- Did the program affect local employment?
- Were the benefits generated by the project greater than project costs?
The impact of the “AGR Support” program is measured by the differences between the AGRs in the control group and the AGRs in the treatment group for all the variables likely to be affected by the treatment. These differences are calculated by ordinary least squares regressions including stratum indicators as a control variable if the number of observations is sufficient, and - as often as possible - the value of the variable of interest at the time of the initial survey. The purpose of these control variables is to improve the precision of the estimators of the program's effect by reducing the statistical noise due to the intrinsic heterogeneity among the set of AGRs.