Evaluating training programs for small and medium enterprises : lessons from Mexico

While there have been numerous impact evaluations of unemployed individuals participating in retraining programs or in programs to foster self-employment, impact evaluations of enterprises benefiting from training programs for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are rare. The authors reevaluate the impact of the largest SME program in Mexico, the Comprehensive Quality and Modernization Program (CIMO). They show that compared to the control group, CIMO firms increased investments in worker training, had higher rates of capacity utilization, and were more likely to adopt quality practices. The evidence also suggests that these improved intermediate outcomes were associated with increased productivity growth among CIMO participants, impacts that were especially strong throughout the 1991-93 period. However, the productivity impacts of CIMO are not apparent in the 1993-95 period.