Microfinance trials on trial

Microfinance has attracted great attention, stimulated, initially, by its association with the award of the Nobel Prize for Peace, based on its transformative potential in addressing poverty. However, work based on randomised trials associated with the award of the Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, put the brakes on. As health economists, and given their promotion as a ‘gold standard’ method borrowed from medicine, we take a particular perspective on the microfinance trials. We question whether full account had been taken of methodological developments in the health arena that were in place before the microfinance trials were embarked upon. This may help explain the outcomes of research, subsequent to the trials, casting doubt on their initial results, but also aid calls for even greater attention to be paid to developments in health evaluations–many drawing from social science more broadly–to better explain what works for whom in which circumstances.