Posted by Michael Wonder on 28 Oct 2019
Where next for randomised controlled trials in global health?
26 October 2019 - The 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to three economists—Esther Duflo, Abhijit Bannerjee, and Michael Kremer—for their experiment-based research to mitigate global poverty.
The award was notable for several reasons. Esther Duflo was only the second woman to win the prize since it began in 1969, and the youngest ever winner. Previous prizes were awarded largely for contributions to theory—for example, by observing and interpreting the behaviour of markets.
But this year, the Sveriges Riksbank committee's recognition of the randomised controlled trial elevates a method long used in medicine, but much less so in human development.
