Towards Ethical Good Practice in Cash Transfer Trials and their Evaluation

Abstract

Although cash transfers are now widely used within development and social policy, there is still limited discussion over how (and indeed whether) cash transfer trials and research on them can respect ethical standards. This Working Paper assesses the latest ethics-relevant literature and advances a series of proposals for attempting to ensure that cash transfer trials can take place ethically and with respect for the best interests of participants. The paper thus strives to lay foundations for the CLARISSA programme’s cash transfer trial in Bangladesh and the research that forms part of it.