Reetika Khera

Some Questions of Ethics in RCTs

MS Teams

23 Jun, 2021

Dear All,
You are cordially invited to the Econ-Talk "Some Questions of Ethics in RCTs" by Prof. Reetika Khera, on Wednesday, June 23, at 4.00 PM. The details of the talk are given below:

Title: Some Questions of Ethics in RCTs


Abstract: Questions of ethics in Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in development economics need greater attention and a wider perspective. RCTs are meant to be governed by the three principles laid out in the Belmont Report, but often violated them, e.g. when local laws are flouted. In other cases, the framework of the Belmont Report itself has proved inadequate: for instance, when there are unintended outcomes or adverse events for which no-one is held accountable. Primarily using RCTs conducted in India, this paper highlights eight areas of concern. RCTs also have a disproportionate influence on shaping research agendas and on policy. Though ethical issues have been raised, there has been little engagement from the RCT community – a manifestation of its power in the profession. As current safeguards (such as oversight by Institutional Review Boards) have failed to protect human subjects, the concluding section discusses possible ways to resolve these issues


Date: June 23, 2021; Time: 4.00-5.30 pm

MS-Team Link

Full paper link: 

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/fgxun/