This paper evaluates the effects of the More Productive Brazil Program (BMP) which provided subsidized on-site management consultancies about lean manufacturing techniques to 3000 establishments between 2016 and 2018. The BMP was restricted to four manufacturing sectors but included large, medium, and small-sized establishments. We apply two-way fixed effects regressions and event study specifications to estimate the impact of the treatment on participants’ employment size and export performance. Using administrative data from the universe of Brazilian establishments shows evidence of self-selection into the program because the participants have above-average growth rates before the treatment. When compared to different control groups for which the parallel trends assumption holds, we find that the 120-h management consulting tends to boost employment, with increases ranging from 4 to 17% depending on the sample matching approach. These positive employment effects are decreasing with establishment size. Furthermore, export volume, the number of export products, and destination countries grow by about 10%. Our findings support the notion that short-term, low-cost management consulting can be an effective development for exporters and small companies in a real, non-experimental setting.

本文评估了提高生产力巴西计划 （BMP） 的效果，该计划在 2016 年至 2018 年期间为 3000 家机构提供了有关精益制造技术的补贴现场管理咨询。BMP 仅限于四个制造部门，但包括大、中、小型机构。我们应用双向固定效应回归和事件研究规范来估计治疗对参与者就业规模和出口绩效的影响。使用来自巴西机构领域的管理数据显示了自我选择加入该计划的证据，因为参与者在治疗前的增长率高于平均水平。与平行趋势假设成立的不同对照组相比，我们发现 120 小时管理咨询往往会促进就业，根据样本匹配方法，增长从 4% 到 17% 不等。这些积极的就业效应随着企业规模的扩大而减少。此外，出口量、出口产品数量和目的地国家/地区增长了约 10%。我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即短期、低成本的管理咨询可以在真实的、非实验的环境中为出口商和小公司提供有效的发展。