## Fostering senior entrepreneurship

**Government or NGO-based programs targeting senior entrepreneurship (start-up as well as existing entrepreneurs) are emerging across HICs, but there is little evidence on impacts** . Evidence from the United States suggests that high-growth entrepreneurs, even in tech-intensive industries, are middleaged rather than young and, in many contexts, entrepreneurship programs appear to work best for participants with more experience.<sup>178</sup> Yet, despite the importance of senior entrepreneurship, there is little evidence on what interventions work to encourage senior-led business start-up and growth, especially not from L/MICs, where most entrepreneurship programs target youth. There is, however, significant evidence on entrepreneurship programs in L/MICs that have successfully provided financial support, business advice, training and market access – often in combination – to microentrepreneurs.<sup>179</sup> Many entrepreneurs face a multitude of constraints (aspirations, skills, information, finance, networks) and are best served by comprehensive programs, although some potential high-growth firms may mostly be limited by credit constraints.<sup>180</sup> Given seniors’ specific needs, interventions could focus on removing constraints including (often) lower technical skills, reduced tolerance for financial risk, and shorter time horizon; interventions might also provide support to foster entrepreneurial mind-sets.<sup>181</sup> Programs in HICs have focused on digital skills, connect seniors with younger co-investors, provide targeted counseling and entrepreneurship training, and target micro-finance programs to this group, much as is done for women or other groups with special needs and constraints.<sup>182</sup> Role models may again prove useful for inspiration and knowledge transfer.<sup>183</sup>

# Intermediation interventions – Strengthen the capacity of employment services to improve matching

**Public and private intermediation services can be strengthened to improve the matching of older**

**workers to jobs** . Most European public employment services have no specific policies for older workers.<sup>184</sup> A first step is to change the age criteria for program eligibility, often capped at retirement age, so that older workers are not automatically excluded from different forms of active labor market support. A second step would be to fully capacitate the employment service workforce in assisting older workers. This will require information to rectify ageist views among staff, identifying specific constraints among mature workers (mobility, digital literacy, training needs and modalities, ageist norms, and others), and stronger capacity within employment services to reach out to employers for the benefit of mature workers. Strengthened employment services could provide tailored information on job opportunities and reskilling opportunities for older workers, as well as training in job search skills, including in digital skills that are often lacking but increasingly essential for the job search.

**Comprehensive approaches involving employers are needed to improve job matching** . In Germany, “regional employment pacts” under the “Initiative 50plus” were created with employment services and the private sector. These successfully included targeted efforts to reactivate and reintegrate

178 Azoulay et al. 2020. 179 Jayachandran 2020. 180 McKenzie 2017b 181 Isele and Rogoff 2014. 182 Isele and Rogoff 2014. 183 Omrani amd Ludivine 2019.

> 184 European Network of Public Employment Services 2019.

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