Entrepreneurship Education and Entry into Self-Employment Among University Graduates

Patrick Premand (1) , Stefanie Brodmann (1) , Rita Almeida (1) , Rebekka Grun (1) , Mahdi Barouni (2)

1 The World Bank
2 IREDU - Institut de recherche sur l'éducation : Sociologie et Economie de l'Education

Entrepreneurship education has the potential to enable youth to gain skills and create their own jobs. In Tunisia, a curricular reform created an entrepreneurship track providing business training and coaching to help university students prepare a business plan. We rely on randomized assignment of the entrepreneurship track to identify impacts on students' labor market outcomes one year after graduation. The entrepreneurship track led to a small increase in self-employment, but overall employment rates remained unchanged. Although business skills improved, effects on personality and entrepreneurial traits were mixed. The program nevertheless increased graduates' aspirations toward the future.

Mots clés: entrepreneurship education; training; self-employment; skills; program evaluation; randomized control trial

Domaines: Education

Patrick Premand, Stefanie Brodmann, Rita Almeida, Rebekka Grun, Mahdi Barouni. Entrepreneurship Education and Entry into Self-Employment Among University Graduates. World Development, 2016, 77, pp.311-327. ⟨10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.08.028⟩. ⟨halshs-01222663⟩