Microcredit and poverty reduction in Bangladesh: average effects beyond publication bias

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.