The Debate about RCTs in Development is over. We won. They lost.

Resource type
Author/contributor
Title
The Debate about RCTs in Development is over. We won. They lost.
Abstract
There has been a debate in development economics over the last 20 years as some claimed the use of RCTs as a tool for independent impact evaluation would significantly improve development practice and hence development. While right about the methodological claims about the superiority of randomization to produce cleaner estimates of the LATE (local average treatment effect) of projects and programs, this, in and of itself, does not change development practice. All of the five claims needed to sustain a positive model in which RCT/IIE has a major positive impact are demonstrably false. The proponents of RCTs have responded to losing the first round decisively by changing significantly both their claims and their practice.
Date
2018-02-21
Place
New York
Meeting Name
DRi Seminar
Accessed
15/03/2019, 11:55
Language
en-US
Citation
Pritchett, L. (2018, February 21). The Debate about RCTs in Development is over. We won. They lost. DRi Seminar, New York. http://www.nyudri.org/events-index/2018/2/22/lant-pritchett-talk-the-debate-about-rcts-in-development-is-over-we-won-they-lost