Orkut, babalife, FB users register job seekers. Mentors

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Changing behavior with social and financial
incentives

• An experiment called babajob

Sean Blagsvedt CEO, babajob sean_at_babajob.com
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45 million bracelets
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The social opportunitiesof this conference
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Prof Anirudh KrishnaDuke University

• How do people come to be poor?
• How do people escape from poverty?

More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
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The Good News
More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
N gt 35,000 households (mostly villages)
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The Whole Story
More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
N gt 35,000 households (mostly villages)
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Findings!

• HUGE flows in and out of poverty
• Constant creation -gt persistence, some exits
• 1/3 of people not born poor
• But why did changes occur?

More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
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Reasons for descent

• BAD HEALTH AND HIGH HEALTH CARE EXPENSES
• 59 in Rajasthan 73 in W. Kenya 88 in
  Gujarat 77 in Uganda 75 in Andhra 67 in
  Peru 41 in North Carolina
• Other location-specific reasons
• Social and customary expenses high-interest
  debt crop disease, land exhaustion, drought job
  loss

More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
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Reasons for poverty escape

• Diversification of Income Sources Agriculture
  and Informal Sector
• (70 Rajasthan, 73 W. Kenya, 79 Uganda, 71
  Andhra, 69 Peru, 70 Gujarat)
• OTHER REASONS (much less frequent)
• Jobs in Government and Private Sector

More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
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They got other jobs

• How? They knew someone.
• Availability of an external contact, a friend or
  more often a relative already established in the
  city, was critical in (64 cases from Rajasthan)
  for a households successful break from poverty.
• - 2003 Krishna Escaping Poverty and Becoming
  Poor Who Gains, Who Loses, and Why?

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A quote

• I am educated to high school level and eager to
  get a job in the city, but I have no way of
  knowing what jobs exist. I have no one in the
  city who can find out and tell me
• I wish I had an uncle or a cousin in the nearest
  city, who could help me, just as Gopi Singhs
  brother-in-law helped him to find a job.
• - Pratap Singh, village Khatikhera, district
  Bhilwara, May 16, 2002.

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Many jobs are found through word of mouth.

• The Driver asks his friend if she knows any cooks.

• Employer needs a cook and asks her driver

• Driver tells Employer and Employer hires cook.

• His friend knows a cook and tells the driver.

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A Story of 2 Nannies

• Mary
• Edu 5th standard
• Speaks only Kannada
• Earns 20/month
• Only knows people in slum

• Jeena
• Edu 5th standard
• Speaks Kannada, Hindi
• Earns 170/month
• Has sister who works for a rich family

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Other job sites help high end workers even
connect to social networks
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90 minute commute distance
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But wait

• Poor people dont use computers
• And many dont have phones

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How we digitize job seekers 3 models

• Do it Ourselves
• Small teams into the slum not scalable?
• Radio/TV ad with phone-in number
• Create business model for partners
• iCafes, NGOs, Micro-Finance cos.
• Charge seeker Rs 20 Earn Rs 200 when hired

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Payment example 1
Mentors
Job Seekers
Employers
16
babajob
5
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How we digitize job seekers 3 models

• Do it Ourselves
• Small teams into the slum not scalable?
• Radio/TV ad with phone-in number
• Create business model for partners
• iCafes, NGOs, Micro-Finance cos.
• Charge seeker Rs 20 Earn Rs 200 when hired
• Via Social Networks
• Orkut, babalife, FB users register job seekers
• Mentors connectors paid

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My homepage
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Take-aways

• Changing human behavior through
• Financial incentives mobile top-ups for 3bn
  people
• Social incentives how do their friends see
  their action?
• Creating market efficiency for the poor
• Aggregate data with websites
• Connect to poor w/ mobiles on-the-ground
  networks (kiva.org)

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Thanks

• Sean Blagsvedt
• Sean_at_babajob.com

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Payment example 2
1. Sean starts out as a simple babalife user
2. Sean adds friends on babalife or adds app on
orkut/facebook
3. Sean needs to hire someone and pays babajob Rs
599 (16) to see mobile s or post a job
4. Sean searches and later clicks I hired
Selvi.
5. We see that Kumari is the connector between
Sean and Selvi. Earns Rs 100.
6. Kumari is also the mentor who registered Selvi
on babajob.com. Earns another Rs 200

• Employer

Connector
16
2.50
babajob
5
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Stages of Progress (Rajasthan)
Poor
Not Poor
Rich
More www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna
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Babajob payment example 2

• Employer

Employee
16
Connector
Connector
2
2
babajob
5
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Babajob summary

• Beta-launched Sept 2007. Bangalore-only
• 10,500 registered users
• 4500 active job seekers
• 150 placements paid employers
• India-wide launch social network launch late
  April