If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?

A key critique of the use of randomized experiments in development economics is that they largely have been used for micro-level interventions that have far less impact on poverty than sustained growth and structural transformation. I make a distinction between two types of policy interventions and...

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Main Author:	McKenzie, David
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Elsevier 2019
Subjects:	RESEARCH METHODS STATISTICAL INFERENCE POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33064

id	okr-10986-33064
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-330642021-05-25T10:54:38Z If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction? McKenzie, David RESEARCH METHODS STATISTICAL INFERENCE POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION A key critique of the use of randomized experiments in development economics is that they largely have been used for micro-level interventions that have far less impact on poverty than sustained growth and structural transformation. I make a distinction between two types of policy interventions and the most appropriate research strategy for each. The first are transformative policies like stabilizing monetary policy or moving people from poor to rich countries, which are difficult to do, but where the gains are massive. Here case studies, theoretical introspection, and before-after comparisons will yield “good enough” results. In contrast, there are many policy issues where the choice is far from obvious, and where, even after having experienced the policy, countries or individuals may not know if it has worked. I argue that this second type of policy decision is abundant, and randomized experiments help us to learn from large samples what cannot be simply learnt by doing. 2019-12-19T20:21:55Z 2019-12-19T20:21:55Z 2020-03 Journal Article World Development 0305-750X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33064 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Elsevier Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	RESEARCH METHODS STATISTICAL INFERENCE POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
spellingShingle	RESEARCH METHODS STATISTICAL INFERENCE POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION McKenzie, David If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
description	A key critique of the use of randomized experiments in development economics is that they largely have been used for micro-level interventions that have far less impact on poverty than sustained growth and structural transformation. I make a distinction between two types of policy interventions and the most appropriate research strategy for each. The first are transformative policies like stabilizing monetary policy or moving people from poor to rich countries, which are difficult to do, but where the gains are massive. Here case studies, theoretical introspection, and before-after comparisons will yield “good enough” results. In contrast, there are many policy issues where the choice is far from obvious, and where, even after having experienced the policy, countries or individuals may not know if it has worked. I argue that this second type of policy decision is abundant, and randomized experiments help us to learn from large samples what cannot be simply learnt by doing.
format	Journal Article
author	McKenzie, David
author_facet	McKenzie, David
author_sort	McKenzie, David
title	If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
title_short	If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
title_full	If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
title_fullStr	If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
title_full_unstemmed	If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?
title_sort	if it needs a power calculation, does it matter for poverty reduction?
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2019
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33064
_version_	1764477920152125440

If It Needs a Power Calculation, Does It Matter for Poverty Reduction?

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