Health Investments & Human Capital: Enhancing Entrepreneur Well-Being in Low-Resource Environments

Abstract

We investigate connections between human capital and entrepreneurial value creation in low-resource markets and consider health as an understudied resource in such environments. We extend conservation of resources theory to this context and suggest mechanisms by which entrepreneurial investments in health- related human capital lead to increases in financial and non- financial well-being. Using longitudinal data from over 500 low- income entrepreneurs in rural India who would benefit from vision correction, we compared changes in well-being between those who did and did not purchase correctional glasses. Entrepreneurs who invested in vision correction saw increases in income and productivity, in the ability to solve problems and cope with challenges, and in levels of independence. These improvements stem from modest investments (less than USD5) in health-related human capital. Results connect low-cost health-based interventions to multiple dimensions of well-being in low-resource markets and signal human capital investment opportunities beyond education and training. This work builds the literature on entrepreneurship by including financial and non-financial measures of success that, together, may more fully capture the nature of entrepreneurial value creation in low-resource environments.