Franck Wiebe, guest-blogging at Aid Watch, proposes: in the interest of aid effectiveness and as a starting point, donors could agree not to fund projects unless they can be demonstrated to be at least as good as a cash transfer. Is that too much to ask of aid? In concept, we think it’s a great…
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Conversation with David Roodman about microfinance
David Roodman is a research fellow at the Center for Global Development and author of David Roodman’s Microfinance Open Book Blog, where he his sharing his notes on (and content of) a book on microfinance. We have consistently found his discussions to be evenhanded, thorough, and clear, especially in terms of what should and shouldn’t…
Developing-world scholarships and school-building
When you help children in the developing world attend school, what sort of school are you helping them to attend? Independent studies of schooling in the developing world have shown (details and references at our discussion of scholarships and school-building): Teachers are frequently underqualified, overworked, and/or frequently absent. In some cases teachers have even been…
What does the repayment rate really tell you about the impact of microfinance?
We wrote last week that the direct evidence of microfinance’s impact is less than overwhelming. However, many believe that direct evidence is not needed – that as long as microfinance institutions demonstrate high “repayment rates,” they can be assumed to be improving lives. The logic goes that if a person is able to repay their…
Microfinance evidence of impact
David Roodman posts a review of recent high-quality studies of microfinance. Note that prior to these fairly recent studies, most impact studies in this area had serious flaws, as Mr. Roodman notes and as we argue in our year-old review of this area. The studies Mr. Roodman discusses are randomized controlled trials, and so their…
GiveWell grants awarded
Note: this post does not refer to the economic empowerment grant whose process we opened on August 4. That process is still ongoing, and the funds we will grant there are in addition and distinct from the funds discussed below. Having released our updated recommendations for international aid, we will be making grants to the…