Nobel Rebels in Disguise: Assessing the Rise and Rule of the Randomistas

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven

doi:10.1080/09538259.2020.1810886

Nobel Rebels in Disguise: Assessing the Rise and Rule of the Randomistas

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven

Politics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer were awarded the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for their pioneering of randomized control trials (RCTs) to find reliable answers about the best ways to fight global poverty. This article unpacks the laureates’ theoretical and methodological approach to development economics in order to evaluate to what extent their approach signifies a break from broader trends in the field. In particular, it investigates the role RCTs have played in both generating knowledge about development interventions and in shaping development policy debates more broadly. Finally, the article argues that despite their rebellious and radical façade, the randomista enterprise has led to a more exclusive development economics, while at the same time failing to improve our ability to fight poverty.

Original language	English
Article number	1
Pages (from-to)	1-37
Number of pages	37
Journal	Review of Political Economy
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/09538259.2020.1810886
Publication status	Published - 12 Oct 2020

Bibliographical note

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

Access to Document

10.1080/09538259.2020.1810886

Nobel Rebels in Disguise — Assessing the Rise and Rule of the Randomistas
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.
Accepted author manuscript, 97.4 KB

Cite this

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