J-PAL JOI Grant: Mental Health Therapy & Business Outcomes
Awarded a $75,000 research grant (2022 - 2025) from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)'s Jobs and Opportunity Initiative (JOI) to serve as Principal Investigator for the project: "The Impact of Mental Health Therapy on Job Creation and Business Outcomes in Youth and Female-Led Enterprises".
The immediate application of this pilot study is to evaluate if mental health therapy helps business owner-managers improve their business outcomes. The study aims to address multiple policy-relevant questions around job creation and supporting small and microenterprises through alternative business training models.
While mental health of business owners has historically been overlooked by policymakers, the recent psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses shows that mental health care should be considered a priority and evaluated as an anti-poverty tool.
The study also investigates whether policy can play a key role in mitigating the mental health effects of business and economic shocks. Understanding the plausible channels through which occupational stress impacts mental health and outcomes of business owners may have implications for policy choices. In the modern work environment, where owner-managers generally neglect their health, there is benefit in learning how to recognize sources of stress and gain awareness of the associated psychological costs. There is a strong economic case for investing in the mental health of business owners, especially in developing countries.