Although the effectiveness of microcredit as a development tool has been recently questioned, its use seems to still be out of the discussion. In 2009, more than 128 million of the world’s poorest families received some sort of microloan (State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011). Supporters of microcredit argue that it alleviates poverty, creates … [Read more...] about Microfinance: big questions and small answers
development
Three sources of evidence for solving development challenges
Solving development challenges is a complex task. Rigorous research show that some programs do not work as intended and that most that do work have no huge impacts. A sensible way to proceed when designing development projects is to be guided by three types of evidence: evidence in the identification of the problem, in the drafting of the solution, and evidence generated from … [Read more...] about Three sources of evidence for solving development challenges
Policy, politics and impact evaluation
At the closing session of the Mind the Gap: From Evidence to Policy Impact conference that took place on June 17th, the Chilean Planning Minister Felipe Kast made some interesting points about how to persuade politicians to embrace evaluations. His perspective is interesting as until last year he was an academic engaged in impact evaluations, and today he is one of the … [Read more...] about Policy, politics and impact evaluation
Three views on the impact of urban development projects
The panel on “the challenges of urban development” in the Mind the Gap Conference that took place in Cuernavaca June 15-17 included presentations by Marco Gonzalez from the University of Toronto, Jerushah Rangasami from Impact Consulting and Juan Vargas from the Universidad del Rosario in Colombia. Sebastian Martinez from the IDB moderated. … [Read more...] about Three views on the impact of urban development projects
Closing the gap between policy making and evidence
Mind the gap, Mind the gap … is a warning that the London Underground introduced in 1969 for passengers to be cautious of the gap between straight train cars and curved platforms. The gap between policy (where we want to go) and evidence (does it take us there?) can also be perilous. … [Read more...] about Closing the gap between policy making and evidence