In 2015, Crépon, Devoto, Duflo and Pariente (2015, henceforth CDDP), published the results of a randomized control trial (RCT) in a special issue of the AEJ: Applied Economics. CDDP evaluated the impact of a microcredit program conducted in Morocco with Al Amana, Morocco’s largest microcredit institution. Their total sample consisted of 5,551 households spread across 162 rural villages.
[From the working paper, “How Often Should We Believe Positive Results? Assessing the Credibility of Research Findings in Development Economics” by Aidan Coville and Eva Vivalt] Over $140 billion is spent on donor assistance to developing countries annually to promote economic development. To improve the impact of these funds, aid agencies both produce and consume evidence about the effects of development interventions to inform policy recommendations.