3 - Randomised Trials as a Dead-end for African Development
Corresponding Author(s) : Seán M. Muller
CODESRIA Bulletin,
No. 01 (2020): CODESRIA Bulletin, No 1, 2020
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- Angrist, J.D. and J.-S., Pischke, 2009, Mostly Harmless Econometrics, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Angrist, J.D. and J.-S., Pischke, 2010, ‘The credibility revolution in empirical economics: how better research design is taking the con out of econometrics’, Journal of Economic Perspectives 24 (2): 3–30.
- Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E., 2011, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, Public Affairs.
- Banerjee, A.V., 2007, Making Aid Work, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
- Banerjee, A.V. and Duflo, E., 2009, ‘The experimental approach to development economics’, Annual Review of Economics 1: 151–78.
- Bardhan, P., 2013, ‘Little, big: two ideas about fighting global poverty’, Boston Review, 20 May.
- Burns, J., Edwards, L. and Pauw, K., 2010, ‘Revisiting wage subsidies: how pro- poor is a South African wage subsidy likely to be?’, available at: http://www.opensaldru.uct.ac.za/handle/11090/73. Center for International Development, 2008, ‘CID South
- Africa Growth Initiative’, available at: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/south africa/, accessed 13 September 2014.
- Chelwa, G., Hoffmann, N. and Muller, S., 2019a, ‘How randomised trials became big in development economics’, The Conversation, 9 December, available at: https://theconversation.com/how-randomised-trials-became-big-in- development-economics-128398.
- Chelwa, G., Hoffmann, N. and Muller, S., 2019b, ‘Randomised trials in economics: what the critics have to say’, The Conversation, 10 December, available at: https://theconversation. com/randomised-trials-in-economics- what-the-critics-have-to-say-128538.
- Chelwa, G. and Muller, S., 2019, ‘The poverty of poor economics’, Africa is a Country, 17 October, available at: https://africasacountry.com/2019/10/ the-poverty-of-poor-economics.
- Cook, T.D. and Campbell, D.T., 1979, Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings, Wadsworth.
- Deaton, A., 2010, ‘Instruments, rando- mization, and learning about development’, Journal of Economic Literature 48 (2): 424–55.
- Fleisch, B., Taylor, S., Schoer, V. and Mabogoane, T., 2017, ‘The value of large-scale randomised control trials in system-wide improvement: the case of the reading catch-up programme’, South African Journal of Educa- tion 37 (1): 1–13.
- Harrison, G.W., 2013, ‘Field experiments and methodological intolerance’, Journal of Economic Methodology 20 (2): 103–17.
- Levinsohn, J., 2008, ‘Two policies to alleviate unemployment in South Africa’, Center for International Development Working Paper 166.
- Levinsohn, J., Rankin, N., Roberts, G. and Schoer, V., 2014, ‘Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa: evidence from a randomised control trial’, Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers 02/14, available at http://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/ 2014/ wp022014.
- Manski, C., 2011, ‘Policy analysis with incredible certitude’, Econo-mic Journal 121 (554): F261–F289.
- Muller, S.M., 2014a, ‘The external validity of treatment effects: an investigation of educational production’, PhD thesis, University of Cape Town.
- Muller, S.M., 2014b, ‘Randomised trials for policy: a review of the external validity of treatment effects’, working paper 127, SALDRU.
- Muller, S.M., 2015, ‘Causal interac- tion and external validity: obsta cles to the policy relevance of randomized evaluations’, World Bank Economic Review 29 (suppl. 1): S217– S225.
- Muller, S.M., 2017, ‘What does an (south) African economics look like?’, in Proceedings of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the South Conference.
- Muller, S.M., 2020, ‘The implications of a fundamental contradiction in advocating randomized trials for policy’, World Development 127.
- Muller, S.M., forthcoming, ‘Randomised trials in economics’, in H. Kincaid and D. Ross eds. The Modern Guide to Philosophy of Economics, Edward Elgar.
- Nobel Media, 2019, ‘Advanced information’, available at https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic- sciences/2019/advanced-information/.
- Rankin, N., 2012, ‘A common approach’, Financial Mail, 24 May.
- Rankin, N., 2013, ‘Give youth wage subsidy a chance’, Mail and Guardian, 1 November.
- Ravallion, M., 2009, ‘Should the Randomistas rule?’, Economists’Voice. Ravallion, M., 2018, ‘Should the randomistas (continue to) rule?’, Center for Global Development Working Paper 492.
- Taylor, S. and Watson, P., 2015, ‘The impact of study guides on “matric” performance: evidence from a randomised experiment’, Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers 13 (15).
- Unknown, 2011, ‘Policy influence plan – grant number OW2.044 – University of the Witwatersrand’, available at http://policyimpact-toolkit.squarespace.com/storage/pip-examples/PIP-OW2-044. pdf, accessed 17 June 2018.
- van der Berg, S., 2007, ‘Apartheid’s enduring legacy: inequalities in education’, Journal of African Economies 16 (5): 849–80.
- van der Berg, S., Spaull, N., Wills, G., Gustafsson, M. and Kotzé J., 2016, ‘Identifying binding constraints in education’, RESEP report for the Presidency, 24 May.
References
Angrist, J.D. and J.-S., Pischke, 2009, Mostly Harmless Econometrics, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Angrist, J.D. and J.-S., Pischke, 2010, ‘The credibility revolution in empirical economics: how better research design is taking the con out of econometrics’, Journal of Economic Perspectives 24 (2): 3–30.
Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E., 2011, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, Public Affairs.
Banerjee, A.V., 2007, Making Aid Work, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Banerjee, A.V. and Duflo, E., 2009, ‘The experimental approach to development economics’, Annual Review of Economics 1: 151–78.
Bardhan, P., 2013, ‘Little, big: two ideas about fighting global poverty’, Boston Review, 20 May.
Burns, J., Edwards, L. and Pauw, K., 2010, ‘Revisiting wage subsidies: how pro- poor is a South African wage subsidy likely to be?’, available at: http://www.opensaldru.uct.ac.za/handle/11090/73. Center for International Development, 2008, ‘CID South
Africa Growth Initiative’, available at: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/south africa/, accessed 13 September 2014.
Chelwa, G., Hoffmann, N. and Muller, S., 2019a, ‘How randomised trials became big in development economics’, The Conversation, 9 December, available at: https://theconversation.com/how-randomised-trials-became-big-in- development-economics-128398.
Chelwa, G., Hoffmann, N. and Muller, S., 2019b, ‘Randomised trials in economics: what the critics have to say’, The Conversation, 10 December, available at: https://theconversation. com/randomised-trials-in-economics- what-the-critics-have-to-say-128538.
Chelwa, G. and Muller, S., 2019, ‘The poverty of poor economics’, Africa is a Country, 17 October, available at: https://africasacountry.com/2019/10/ the-poverty-of-poor-economics.
Cook, T.D. and Campbell, D.T., 1979, Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings, Wadsworth.
Deaton, A., 2010, ‘Instruments, rando- mization, and learning about development’, Journal of Economic Literature 48 (2): 424–55.
Fleisch, B., Taylor, S., Schoer, V. and Mabogoane, T., 2017, ‘The value of large-scale randomised control trials in system-wide improvement: the case of the reading catch-up programme’, South African Journal of Educa- tion 37 (1): 1–13.
Harrison, G.W., 2013, ‘Field experiments and methodological intolerance’, Journal of Economic Methodology 20 (2): 103–17.
Levinsohn, J., 2008, ‘Two policies to alleviate unemployment in South Africa’, Center for International Development Working Paper 166.
Levinsohn, J., Rankin, N., Roberts, G. and Schoer, V., 2014, ‘Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa: evidence from a randomised control trial’, Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers 02/14, available at http://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/ 2014/ wp022014.
Manski, C., 2011, ‘Policy analysis with incredible certitude’, Econo-mic Journal 121 (554): F261–F289.
Muller, S.M., 2014a, ‘The external validity of treatment effects: an investigation of educational production’, PhD thesis, University of Cape Town.
Muller, S.M., 2014b, ‘Randomised trials for policy: a review of the external validity of treatment effects’, working paper 127, SALDRU.
Muller, S.M., 2015, ‘Causal interac- tion and external validity: obsta cles to the policy relevance of randomized evaluations’, World Bank Economic Review 29 (suppl. 1): S217– S225.
Muller, S.M., 2017, ‘What does an (south) African economics look like?’, in Proceedings of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the South Conference.
Muller, S.M., 2020, ‘The implications of a fundamental contradiction in advocating randomized trials for policy’, World Development 127.
Muller, S.M., forthcoming, ‘Randomised trials in economics’, in H. Kincaid and D. Ross eds. The Modern Guide to Philosophy of Economics, Edward Elgar.
Nobel Media, 2019, ‘Advanced information’, available at https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic- sciences/2019/advanced-information/.
Rankin, N., 2012, ‘A common approach’, Financial Mail, 24 May.
Rankin, N., 2013, ‘Give youth wage subsidy a chance’, Mail and Guardian, 1 November.
Ravallion, M., 2009, ‘Should the Randomistas rule?’, Economists’Voice. Ravallion, M., 2018, ‘Should the randomistas (continue to) rule?’, Center for Global Development Working Paper 492.
Taylor, S. and Watson, P., 2015, ‘The impact of study guides on “matric” performance: evidence from a randomised experiment’, Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers 13 (15).
Unknown, 2011, ‘Policy influence plan – grant number OW2.044 – University of the Witwatersrand’, available at http://policyimpact-toolkit.squarespace.com/storage/pip-examples/PIP-OW2-044. pdf, accessed 17 June 2018.
van der Berg, S., 2007, ‘Apartheid’s enduring legacy: inequalities in education’, Journal of African Economies 16 (5): 849–80.
van der Berg, S., Spaull, N., Wills, G., Gustafsson, M. and Kotzé J., 2016, ‘Identifying binding constraints in education’, RESEP report for the Presidency, 24 May.