How useful are randomised control trials in the real world of development assistance? And what more generally needs to be done to improve the quality and impact of impact evaluations, and to promote learning in aid? Andrew Leigh, Lant Pritchett and Jyotsna Puri answer these questions and more in this lively debate at the 2020 Australiasian AID conference.
In 2019 the Nobel prize for economics went to three economists who have promoted the use and importance of Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) in development economics and interventions. But how useful are RCTs in the real world of development assistance? And what more generally needs to be done to improve the quality and impact of impact evaluations, and to promote learning in aid?
Panellists:
The Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Member for Fenner, ACT
Dr Lant Pritchett, Research Director, RISE Programme; Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University
Dr Jyotsna Puri, Head, Independent Evaluation Unit, Green Climate Fund
Chair:
Professor Stephen Howes, Director, Development Policy Centre, The Australian National University