Preparing fertile ground: how does the quality of business environments affect MSE growth?

We study how the quality of local business environments helps explain growth outcomes of micro- and small enterprise microfinance clients by drawing on long-term nationwide administrative data and a policy shock in Cambodia. The staggered launch of special economic zones, which we link to positive shocks to the business environment on both the demand and supply side, leads to significantly increased employment in micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) located in these special economic zones (SEZs), compared to enterprises in contextually similar districts that are unexposed to an SEZ. Key channels explaining the improved growth outcomes include expanded access to external markets for the enterprises' goods and services, more dynamic labor environments, and improved credit terms and conditions. To broaden the relevance of our findings, we combine data from prominent empirical studies on microfinance and demonstrate how related business conditions identified in the enterprise growth literature help explain differences in client business outcomes found in their results. Policy implications are that a smaller but influential segment of microfinance borrowers significantly benefit from opportunities provided by improved local business environments and that governments and lenders can play active roles in facilitating the necessary improvements for such MSEs.

Financial access may not be fulfilling its real potential in low-income settings, unless coupled with the right opportunities in the business environment for micro- and small enterprises. We use Cambodia's special economic zones as a policy shock to study how the quality of local business environments help explain micro- and small enterprise microfinance clients' growth. We find that the SEZs generate large increases in employment for microfinance borrowers for both micro- and small enterprises. These increases are concentrated in locations where SEZs expand access to local markets and where there are more dynamic labor environments. The SEZs also lead the microfinance lender to improve credit terms, which contribute notably to improved enterprise outcomes. To broaden the relevance of our findings, we demonstrate how related sub-national business environment factors help explain different borrower outcomes found in extant studies that measure microfinance impacts. Policy implications are that an important subset of microfinance borrowers is able to seize opportunities provided by local business environments, and that national and subnational governments can play active roles in facilitating such improved business environments for micro and small enterprises.

Empower Peers 4 Careers: Positive Peer Culture to Prepare Adolescents' Career Choices.

For youth with special needs, where cognitive difficulties, behavioral and psychosocial issues are more common, career choice is particularly challenging. The Positive Peer Culture (PPC) approach uses the resource of peer support to systematically build social-emotional competence. Important key elements are that adolescents feel safe to share their own problems and challenges with others, to overcome difficulties and challenges, to take responsibility for their lives, and to help each other. The Empower Peers 4 Careers Project aims to apply the PPC approach to the context of career choice to promote the development of important competences for the transition from school to work. The pedagogical background of the PPC approach in the setting of career choice, as well as the required learning environments for the peers are presented. The peer group meetings are organized following a defined process through which learning forms social-emotional competence, as well as the class climate can be strengthened. In addition, the role of the moderators of the peer groups - such as class teachers or special education teachers - is examined in more detail and the concept is presented of how they are trained on topics such as resilience promotion and strengths orientation in the context of career choice preparation. The project "Empower Peers 4 Careers" will be cientifically monitored over 2 years using a quasi-experimental control group design, which includes quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 15 classes of the 8th grade (age group: 14-year-olds) of regular and special schools as well as 10 classes as control classes are participating. The results of the evaluation will not be available until 2023. The article presents the concept with the long-term goals, the implementation and didactics, as well as the hypotheses and the procedure for the evaluation.

Authentic Happiness at Work: Self- and Peer-Rated Orientations to Happiness, Work Satisfaction, and Stress Coping.

The authentic happiness theory covers three basic orientations to happiness; namely, the life of pleasure (via hedonism); engagement (via flow-related experiences); and meaning (via eudaimonia). There is broad evidence for a positive relationship between these three orientations and indicators of positive psychological functioning in a variety of life domains. However, their contribution to well-being at work is understudied. The main aim of this study was testing the relationship between self- and peer-rated orientations to happiness, work related well-being (work satisfaction, work stress), and coping strategies. Further possible mediating effects of the coping strategies on the relationship between orientations to happiness and well-being at work were also examined. The sample consisted of 372 German-speaking Swiss adults (60.3% female), aged between 18 and 65 years (M = 38.9, SD = 10.8) with a minimum of 40% full-time employment. For 100 persons, peer-ratings of the orientations to happiness were available. Our results showed that the life of engagement and, to a lesser extent, the life of meaning are related to work satisfaction. The life of pleasure was associated with lower levels of reported work stress. Further, positive associations between self- and peer-rated orientations to happiness (particularly pleasure) and adaptive coping strategies with stress were also found. Mediation analyses showed that the effects of engagement in general and content-related work satisfaction were mediated mainly by control and negative coping, while the association between meaning and resigned work satisfaction was mediated by positive coping. Negative coping fully mediated the association between the pleasurable life and work stress. Overall, our results indicate that employees' orientations to happiness are of importance for experiencing well-being at work.