An article in the Financial Times examines the evidence from three microfinance trials (two microcredit trials in the Philippines and India and one microsavings study in Kenya) undertaken by IPA Research Affiliates.

The reason for the backlash is obvious: microfinance was supposed not just to be a useful financial product, but to emancipate women, create millions of entrepreneurs and get rid of stubborn stains on your collar. Such claims were always going to be difficult to justify – even if donors tend to lap them up in the search for the next development panacea.