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Sialkot, Pakistan, is the world center of hand-stitched soccer-ball manufacturing. The existence of the cluster is puzzling and seems to argue against the "home market effect", since there is little local demand for soccer balls.

Microfinance lenders make limited credit offers because of operational challenges of extensive screening and selection process. We study if optimizing a referral protocol can be used to recruit good entrepreneurs and thus increase access to credit.

Most firms are informal throughout the developing world; and most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (60-80%) do not register with tax authorities, lowering the tax base. This remains a persistent phenomenon despite the numerous attempts made to encourage registration.

Using a randomized experiment, the authors show that enhancing the benefits of formalization through personalized assistance induces more firms to formalize.