We review the empirical evidence on the impact of microcredit on poverty in Bangladesh. Drawing on evidence from eight empirical studies with 221 estimates, we examine the impact of microcredit on three proxies of poverty – income, assets, and consumption/expenditure. After addressing issues of publication selection bias, we find that the effect of microcredit on assets and income is statistically not significant. Evidence shows a positive but weak effect of microcredit on consumption/expenditure. Meta-regression analysis reveals that sources of variations in the existing literature such as study design, data characteristics and empirical methodology can explain the differences in reported estimates.

Abreu, M., de Groot, H. and Florax, R. (2005) A Meta-analysis of Beta Convergence. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers No. TI 2005-001/3. Amersterdam: Tinbergen Institute.

Alam, S. (2012) ‘The effect of gender-based returns to borrowing on intra-household resource allocation in rural Bangladesh’, World Development, 40(6): 1164–80. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Alptekin, A. and Levine, P. (2012) ‘Military expenditure and economic growth: a meta-analysis’, European Journal of Political Economy, 28(4): 636–50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2012.07.002

Armendariz de Aghion, B. and Morduch, J. (2005) The Economics of Microfinance, Cambridge and London: MIT Press.

Banerjee, A., Duflo, E., Glennerster, R. and Kinnan, C. (2009) The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation. MIT Working Paper. Cambridge: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pp. 1–40.

Banerjee, A., Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2015) ‘Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: introduction and further steps’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1): 1–21. doi: 10.1257/app.20140287

Berhane, G. and Gardebroek, C. (2011) ‘Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on household panel data from Northern Ethiopia’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(1): 43–55. doi: http://ajae.oxfordjournals.org/content/by/year

Card, D. and Krueger, A. (1995) ‘Time-series minimum-wage studies: a meta-analysis’, American Economic Review, 85(2): 238–43.

Chemin, M. (2008) ‘The benefits and costs of microfinance: evidence from Bangladesh’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 463–84.

Chen, M. (1992) Impact of Grameen Bank’s Credit Operations on its Members: Past and Future Research. Dhaka: Grameen Bank.

Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Copestake, J., Bhalotra, S. and Johnson, S. (2001) ‘Assessing the impact of microcredit: a Zambian case study’, The Journal of Development Studies, 37(4): 81–100.

De Dominicis, L., Florax, R. and Groot, H. (2008) ‘A meta-analysis on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth’, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 55(5): 654–82.

de Mel, S., McKenzie, D. and Woodruff, C. (2008) ‘Returns to capital in microenterprises: evidence from a field experiment’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4): 1329–72. doi: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.4.1329

Doucouliagos, C. (2005) ‘Publication bias in the economic freedom and economic growth literature’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 19(3): 367–87.

Duvendack, M., Palmer-Jones, R., Copestake, J., Hooper, L., Loke, Y. and Rao, N. (2011) What is the Evidence of the Impact of Microfinance on the Well-being of Poor People? London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Feigenberg, B., Field, E.M. and Pande, R. (2010) Building Social Capital through Microfinance, Harvard University: John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Garikipati, S. (2008) ‘The impact of lending to women on household vulnerability and women’s empowerment: evidence from India’, World Development, 36(12): 2620–42.

Henmi, M. and Copas, J.B. (2010) ‘Confidence intervals for random effects meta-analysis and robustness to publication bias’, Stat Med, 29(29): 2969–83. doi: 10.1002/sim.4029

Hoque, S. (2004) ‘Micro-credit and the reduction of poverty in Bangladesh’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 34(1): 21–32.

Imai, K.S. and Azam, M.D.S. (2012) ‘Does microfinance reduce poverty in Bangladesh? New evidence from household panel data’, Journal of Development Studies, 48(5): 633–53. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2012.661853

Islam, A. (2009) Three essays on development and labour economics. (PhD), Monash University, Australia.

Islam, A. (2011) ‘Medium- and long-term participation in microcredit: an evaluation using a new panel dataset from Bangladesh’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(3): 847–66. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aar012

Kabeer, N. (2005) ‘Direct social impacts for the Millennium Development Goals’, in J. Copestake, M. Greeley, S. Johnson, N. Kabeer, A. Simanowitz and K. Knotts (eds), Money With a Mission, Volume 1: Microfinance and Poverty Reduction. London: ITDG.

Karlan, D., Goldberg, N. and Copestake, J. (2009) ‘Randomized control trials are the best way to measure impact of microfinance programmes and improve microfinance product designs’, Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 20(3): 167–76. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2009.017

Karlan, D.S. and Zinman, J. (2007) Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions To Estimate the Impacts. CEPR Discussion Paper 6180, London: CEPR.

Khandker, S.R. (2005) ‘Microfinance and poverty: evidence using panel data from Bangladesh’, World Bank Economic Review, 19(2): 263–86. doi: http://wber.oxfordjournals.org/

Morduch, J. (2005) ‘Microfinance: achieving profit and social impact’, Appropriate Technology 32(2): 65–66.

Pitt, M.M. and Khandker, S.R. (1998) ‘The impact of group-based credit programs on poor households in Bangladesh: Does the gender of participants matter?’, The Journal of Political Economy, 106(5), 958-996.

Rahman, S., Rafiq, R.B., & Momen, M.A. (2011) ‘Impact of microcredit programs on higher income borrowers: evidence from Bangladesh’, International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 8(2).

Schroeder, E. (2010) The Impact of Microcredit Borrowing on Household Consumption in Bangladesh, Washington DC: Georgetown University Department of Economics.

Sebstad, J. and Chen, G. (1996) Overview of Studies on the Impact of Microenterprise Credit, Washington, DC: Management Systems International.

Stanley, T. (2008) ‘Meta-regression methods for detecting and estimating empirical effects in the presence of publication selection’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 70(2): 103–27.

Stanley, T.D. and Doucouliagos, H. (2014) ‘Meta-regression approximations to reduce publication selection bias’, Research Synthesis Methods, 5(1): 60–78. doi: 10.1002/jrsm.1095

Stanley, T.D., Doucouliagos, H., Giles, M., Heckemeyer, J.H., Johnston, R.J., Laroche, P., Nelson, J.P., Paldam, M., Poot, J., Pugh, G., Rosenberger, R.S. and Rost, K. (2013) ‘Meta-analysis of economics research reporting guidelines’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(2): 390–94. doi: 10.1111/joes.12008

Stewart, R., van Rooyen, C., Dickson, K., Majoro, M. and de Wet, T. (2010) What is the impact of microfinance on poor people? A systematic review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Technical report. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, University of London.

Tedeschi, G.A. (2008) ‘Overcoming selection bias in microcredit impact assessments: a case study in Peru’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 504–18. doi: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00220388.asp

Tedeschi, G.A. (2010). ‘Microfinance: assessing its impact on microenterprises’ in J.M.S. Munoz (ed.), Contemporary Microenterprise: Concepts and Cases (pp. 116-128): Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Mass.: Elgar.

Tedeschi, G.A. and Karlan, D. (2010) ‘Cross-sectional impact analysis: bias from dropouts’, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 9(3/4): 70-291. doi: 10.1163/156914910X499714

Ugur, M. (2014) ‘Corruption’s direct effects on per-capita income growth: a meta-analysis’, Journal of Economic Surveys 28(3): 472–90.

van Rooyen, C., Stewart, R. and de Wet, T. (2012) ‘The impact of microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the evidence’, in World Development, 40(11), 2249–62. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Xia, L., Gan, C. and Baiding, H. (2011) ‘The impact of microcredit on women’s empowerment: evidence from China’, Journal of Chinese Economic & Business Studies, 9(3): 239–261. doi: 10.1080/14765284.2011.592352

Abreu, M., de Groot, H. and Florax, R. (2005) A Meta-analysis of Beta Convergence. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers No. TI 2005-001/3. Amersterdam: Tinbergen Institute.

Alam, S. (2012) ‘The effect of gender-based returns to borrowing on intra-household resource allocation in rural Bangladesh’, World Development, 40(6): 1164–80. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Alptekin, A. and Levine, P. (2012) ‘Military expenditure and economic growth: a meta-analysis’, European Journal of Political Economy, 28(4): 636–50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2012.07.002

Armendariz de Aghion, B. and Morduch, J. (2005) The Economics of Microfinance, Cambridge and London: MIT Press.

Banerjee, A., Duflo, E., Glennerster, R. and Kinnan, C. (2009) The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation. MIT Working Paper. Cambridge: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pp. 1–40.

Banerjee, A., Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2015) ‘Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: introduction and further steps’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1): 1–21. doi: 10.1257/app.20140287

Berhane, G. and Gardebroek, C. (2011) ‘Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on household panel data from Northern Ethiopia’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(1): 43–55. doi: http://ajae.oxfordjournals.org/content/by/year

Card, D. and Krueger, A. (1995) ‘Time-series minimum-wage studies: a meta-analysis’, American Economic Review, 85(2): 238–43.

Chemin, M. (2008) ‘The benefits and costs of microfinance: evidence from Bangladesh’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 463–84.

Chen, M. (1992) Impact of Grameen Bank’s Credit Operations on its Members: Past and Future Research. Dhaka: Grameen Bank.

Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Copestake, J., Bhalotra, S. and Johnson, S. (2001) ‘Assessing the impact of microcredit: a Zambian case study’, The Journal of Development Studies, 37(4): 81–100.

De Dominicis, L., Florax, R. and Groot, H. (2008) ‘A meta-analysis on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth’, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 55(5): 654–82.

de Mel, S., McKenzie, D. and Woodruff, C. (2008) ‘Returns to capital in microenterprises: evidence from a field experiment’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4): 1329–72. doi: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.4.1329

Doucouliagos, C. (2005) ‘Publication bias in the economic freedom and economic growth literature’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 19(3): 367–87.

Duvendack, M., Palmer-Jones, R., Copestake, J., Hooper, L., Loke, Y. and Rao, N. (2011) What is the Evidence of the Impact of Microfinance on the Well-being of Poor People? London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Feigenberg, B., Field, E.M. and Pande, R. (2010) Building Social Capital through Microfinance, Harvard University: John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Garikipati, S. (2008) ‘The impact of lending to women on household vulnerability and women’s empowerment: evidence from India’, World Development, 36(12): 2620–42.

Henmi, M. and Copas, J.B. (2010) ‘Confidence intervals for random effects meta-analysis and robustness to publication bias’, Stat Med, 29(29): 2969–83. doi: 10.1002/sim.4029

Hoque, S. (2004) ‘Micro-credit and the reduction of poverty in Bangladesh’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 34(1): 21–32.

Imai, K.S. and Azam, M.D.S. (2012) ‘Does microfinance reduce poverty in Bangladesh? New evidence from household panel data’, Journal of Development Studies, 48(5): 633–53. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2012.661853

Islam, A. (2009) Three essays on development and labour economics. (PhD), Monash University, Australia.

Islam, A. (2011) ‘Medium- and long-term participation in microcredit: an evaluation using a new panel dataset from Bangladesh’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(3): 847–66. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aar012

Kabeer, N. (2005) ‘Direct social impacts for the Millennium Development Goals’, in J. Copestake, M. Greeley, S. Johnson, N. Kabeer, A. Simanowitz and K. Knotts (eds), Money With a Mission, Volume 1: Microfinance and Poverty Reduction. London: ITDG.

Karlan, D., Goldberg, N. and Copestake, J. (2009) ‘Randomized control trials are the best way to measure impact of microfinance programmes and improve microfinance product designs’, Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 20(3): 167–76. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2009.017

Karlan, D.S. and Zinman, J. (2007) Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions To Estimate the Impacts. CEPR Discussion Paper 6180, London: CEPR.

Khandker, S.R. (2005) ‘Microfinance and poverty: evidence using panel data from Bangladesh’, World Bank Economic Review, 19(2): 263–86. doi: http://wber.oxfordjournals.org/

Morduch, J. (2005) ‘Microfinance: achieving profit and social impact’, Appropriate Technology 32(2): 65–66.

Pitt, M.M. and Khandker, S.R. (1998) ‘The impact of group-based credit programs on poor households in Bangladesh: Does the gender of participants matter?’, The Journal of Political Economy, 106(5), 958-996.

Rahman, S., Rafiq, R.B., & Momen, M.A. (2011) ‘Impact of microcredit programs on higher income borrowers: evidence from Bangladesh’, International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 8(2).

Schroeder, E. (2010) The Impact of Microcredit Borrowing on Household Consumption in Bangladesh, Washington DC: Georgetown University Department of Economics.

Sebstad, J. and Chen, G. (1996) Overview of Studies on the Impact of Microenterprise Credit, Washington, DC: Management Systems International.

Stanley, T. (2008) ‘Meta-regression methods for detecting and estimating empirical effects in the presence of publication selection’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 70(2): 103–27.

Stanley, T.D. and Doucouliagos, H. (2014) ‘Meta-regression approximations to reduce publication selection bias’, Research Synthesis Methods, 5(1): 60–78. doi: 10.1002/jrsm.1095

Stanley, T.D., Doucouliagos, H., Giles, M., Heckemeyer, J.H., Johnston, R.J., Laroche, P., Nelson, J.P., Paldam, M., Poot, J., Pugh, G., Rosenberger, R.S. and Rost, K. (2013) ‘Meta-analysis of economics research reporting guidelines’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(2): 390–94. doi: 10.1111/joes.12008

Stewart, R., van Rooyen, C., Dickson, K., Majoro, M. and de Wet, T. (2010) What is the impact of microfinance on poor people? A systematic review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Technical report. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, University of London.

Tedeschi, G.A. (2008) ‘Overcoming selection bias in microcredit impact assessments: a case study in Peru’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 504–18. doi: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00220388.asp

Tedeschi, G.A. (2010). ‘Microfinance: assessing its impact on microenterprises’ in J.M.S. Munoz (ed.), Contemporary Microenterprise: Concepts and Cases (pp. 116-128): Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Mass.: Elgar.

Tedeschi, G.A. and Karlan, D. (2010) ‘Cross-sectional impact analysis: bias from dropouts’, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 9(3/4): 70-291. doi: 10.1163/156914910X499714

Ugur, M. (2014) ‘Corruption’s direct effects on per-capita income growth: a meta-analysis’, Journal of Economic Surveys 28(3): 472–90.

van Rooyen, C., Stewart, R. and de Wet, T. (2012) ‘The impact of microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the evidence’, in World Development, 40(11), 2249–62. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Xia, L., Gan, C. and Baiding, H. (2011) ‘The impact of microcredit on women’s empowerment: evidence from China’, Journal of Chinese Economic & Business Studies, 9(3): 239–261. doi: 10.1080/14765284.2011.592352

Abreu, M., de Groot, H. and Florax, R. (2005) A Meta-analysis of Beta Convergence. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers No. TI 2005-001/3. Amersterdam: Tinbergen Institute.

Alam, S. (2012) ‘The effect of gender-based returns to borrowing on intra-household resource allocation in rural Bangladesh’, World Development, 40(6): 1164–80. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Alptekin, A. and Levine, P. (2012) ‘Military expenditure and economic growth: a meta-analysis’, European Journal of Political Economy, 28(4): 636–50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2012.07.002

Armendariz de Aghion, B. and Morduch, J. (2005) The Economics of Microfinance, Cambridge and London: MIT Press.

Banerjee, A., Duflo, E., Glennerster, R. and Kinnan, C. (2009) The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation. MIT Working Paper. Cambridge: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pp. 1–40.

Banerjee, A., Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2015) ‘Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: introduction and further steps’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1): 1–21. doi: 10.1257/app.20140287

Berhane, G. and Gardebroek, C. (2011) ‘Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on household panel data from Northern Ethiopia’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(1): 43–55. doi: http://ajae.oxfordjournals.org/content/by/year

Card, D. and Krueger, A. (1995) ‘Time-series minimum-wage studies: a meta-analysis’, American Economic Review, 85(2): 238–43.

Chemin, M. (2008) ‘The benefits and costs of microfinance: evidence from Bangladesh’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 463–84.

Chen, M. (1992) Impact of Grameen Bank’s Credit Operations on its Members: Past and Future Research. Dhaka: Grameen Bank.

Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Copestake, J., Bhalotra, S. and Johnson, S. (2001) ‘Assessing the impact of microcredit: a Zambian case study’, The Journal of Development Studies, 37(4): 81–100.

De Dominicis, L., Florax, R. and Groot, H. (2008) ‘A meta-analysis on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth’, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 55(5): 654–82.

de Mel, S., McKenzie, D. and Woodruff, C. (2008) ‘Returns to capital in microenterprises: evidence from a field experiment’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4): 1329–72. doi: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.4.1329

Doucouliagos, C. (2005) ‘Publication bias in the economic freedom and economic growth literature’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 19(3): 367–87.

Duvendack, M., Palmer-Jones, R., Copestake, J., Hooper, L., Loke, Y. and Rao, N. (2011) What is the Evidence of the Impact of Microfinance on the Well-being of Poor People? London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Feigenberg, B., Field, E.M. and Pande, R. (2010) Building Social Capital through Microfinance, Harvard University: John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Garikipati, S. (2008) ‘The impact of lending to women on household vulnerability and women’s empowerment: evidence from India’, World Development, 36(12): 2620–42.

Henmi, M. and Copas, J.B. (2010) ‘Confidence intervals for random effects meta-analysis and robustness to publication bias’, Stat Med, 29(29): 2969–83. doi: 10.1002/sim.4029

Hoque, S. (2004) ‘Micro-credit and the reduction of poverty in Bangladesh’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 34(1): 21–32.

Imai, K.S. and Azam, M.D.S. (2012) ‘Does microfinance reduce poverty in Bangladesh? New evidence from household panel data’, Journal of Development Studies, 48(5): 633–53. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2012.661853

Islam, A. (2009) Three essays on development and labour economics. (PhD), Monash University, Australia.

Islam, A. (2011) ‘Medium- and long-term participation in microcredit: an evaluation using a new panel dataset from Bangladesh’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(3): 847–66. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aar012

Kabeer, N. (2005) ‘Direct social impacts for the Millennium Development Goals’, in J. Copestake, M. Greeley, S. Johnson, N. Kabeer, A. Simanowitz and K. Knotts (eds), Money With a Mission, Volume 1: Microfinance and Poverty Reduction. London: ITDG.

Karlan, D., Goldberg, N. and Copestake, J. (2009) ‘Randomized control trials are the best way to measure impact of microfinance programmes and improve microfinance product designs’, Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 20(3): 167–76. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2009.017

Karlan, D.S. and Zinman, J. (2007) Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions To Estimate the Impacts. CEPR Discussion Paper 6180, London: CEPR.

Khandker, S.R. (2005) ‘Microfinance and poverty: evidence using panel data from Bangladesh’, World Bank Economic Review, 19(2): 263–86. doi: http://wber.oxfordjournals.org/

Morduch, J. (2005) ‘Microfinance: achieving profit and social impact’, Appropriate Technology 32(2): 65–66.

Pitt, M.M. and Khandker, S.R. (1998) ‘The impact of group-based credit programs on poor households in Bangladesh: Does the gender of participants matter?’, The Journal of Political Economy, 106(5), 958-996.

Rahman, S., Rafiq, R.B., & Momen, M.A. (2011) ‘Impact of microcredit programs on higher income borrowers: evidence from Bangladesh’, International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 8(2).

Schroeder, E. (2010) The Impact of Microcredit Borrowing on Household Consumption in Bangladesh, Washington DC: Georgetown University Department of Economics.

Sebstad, J. and Chen, G. (1996) Overview of Studies on the Impact of Microenterprise Credit, Washington, DC: Management Systems International.

Stanley, T. (2008) ‘Meta-regression methods for detecting and estimating empirical effects in the presence of publication selection’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 70(2): 103–27.

Stanley, T.D. and Doucouliagos, H. (2014) ‘Meta-regression approximations to reduce publication selection bias’, Research Synthesis Methods, 5(1): 60–78. doi: 10.1002/jrsm.1095

Stanley, T.D., Doucouliagos, H., Giles, M., Heckemeyer, J.H., Johnston, R.J., Laroche, P., Nelson, J.P., Paldam, M., Poot, J., Pugh, G., Rosenberger, R.S. and Rost, K. (2013) ‘Meta-analysis of economics research reporting guidelines’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(2): 390–94. doi: 10.1111/joes.12008

Stewart, R., van Rooyen, C., Dickson, K., Majoro, M. and de Wet, T. (2010) What is the impact of microfinance on poor people? A systematic review of evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Technical report. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, University of London.

Tedeschi, G.A. (2008) ‘Overcoming selection bias in microcredit impact assessments: a case study in Peru’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 504–18. doi: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00220388.asp

Tedeschi, G.A. (2010). ‘Microfinance: assessing its impact on microenterprises’ in J.M.S. Munoz (ed.), Contemporary Microenterprise: Concepts and Cases (pp. 116-128): Cheltenham, U.K. and Northampton, Mass.: Elgar.

Tedeschi, G.A. and Karlan, D. (2010) ‘Cross-sectional impact analysis: bias from dropouts’, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 9(3/4): 70-291. doi: 10.1163/156914910X499714

Ugur, M. (2014) ‘Corruption’s direct effects on per-capita income growth: a meta-analysis’, Journal of Economic Surveys 28(3): 472–90.

van Rooyen, C., Stewart, R. and de Wet, T. (2012) ‘The impact of microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the evidence’, in World Development, 40(11), 2249–62. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Xia, L., Gan, C. and Baiding, H. (2011) ‘The impact of microcredit on women’s empowerment: evidence from China’, Journal of Chinese Economic & Business Studies, 9(3): 239–261. doi: 10.1080/14765284.2011.592352

Abreu, M., de Groot, H. and Florax, R. (2005) A Meta-analysis of Beta Convergence. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers No. TI 2005-001/3. Amersterdam: Tinbergen Institute.

Alam, S. (2012) ‘The effect of gender-based returns to borrowing on intra-household resource allocation in rural Bangladesh’, World Development, 40(6): 1164–80. doi: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0305750X/

Alptekin, A. and Levine, P. (2012) ‘Military expenditure and economic growth: a meta-analysis’, European Journal of Political Economy, 28(4): 636–50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2012.07.002

Armendariz de Aghion, B. and Morduch, J. (2005) The Economics of Microfinance, Cambridge and London: MIT Press.

Banerjee, A., Duflo, E., Glennerster, R. and Kinnan, C. (2009) The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation. MIT Working Paper. Cambridge: Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pp. 1–40.

Banerjee, A., Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2015) ‘Six randomized evaluations of microcredit: introduction and further steps’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1): 1–21. doi: 10.1257/app.20140287

Berhane, G. and Gardebroek, C. (2011) ‘Does microfinance reduce rural poverty? Evidence based on household panel data from Northern Ethiopia’, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(1): 43–55. doi: http://ajae.oxfordjournals.org/content/by/year

Card, D. and Krueger, A. (1995) ‘Time-series minimum-wage studies: a meta-analysis’, American Economic Review, 85(2): 238–43.

Chemin, M. (2008) ‘The benefits and costs of microfinance: evidence from Bangladesh’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(4): 463–84.

Chen, M. (1992) Impact of Grameen Bank’s Credit Operations on its Members: Past and Future Research. Dhaka: Grameen Bank.

Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioural Sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Copestake, J., Bhalotra, S. and Johnson, S. (2001) ‘Assessing the impact of microcredit: a Zambian case study’, The Journal of Development Studies, 37(4): 81–100.

De Dominicis, L., Florax, R. and Groot, H. (2008) ‘A meta-analysis on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth’, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 55(5): 654–82.

de Mel, S., McKenzie, D. and Woodruff, C. (2008) ‘Returns to capital in microenterprises: evidence from a field experiment’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4): 1329–72. doi: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.4.1329

Doucouliagos, C. (2005) ‘Publication bias in the economic freedom and economic growth literature’, Journal of Economic Surveys, 19(3): 367–87.

Duvendack, M., Palmer-Jones, R., Copestake, J., Hooper, L., Loke, Y. and Rao, N. (2011) What is the Evidence of the Impact of Microfinance on the Well-being of Poor People? London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.

Feigenberg, B., Field, E.M. and Pande, R. (2010) Building Social Capital through Microfinance, Harvard University: John F. Kennedy School of Government.

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