PARTNER
MIT Gov Lab
SECTOR
Education
PROJECT TYPE
Field and Lab Experiments
BEHAVIORAL THEME
Inclusivity | sensitizing
OVERVIEW
The Behavioral science in the field course, a collaboration between MIT GOV/LAB and Busara, aims to train graduate students in cutting-edge behavioral science research. It takes place in Kenya and offers an intensive deep dive into interdisciplinary behavioral science, where students develop behavioral science games to collect data and address research questions. Exploring human behavior and its determinants across various disciplines and sectors, the course emphasizes the importance of behavioral science training to bridge the gap between theory and practice, with the potential for real-world impact.
This document highlights the work of participants from the 2021 cohort who designed experiments and research projects in diverse areas such as charitable giving, decision-making among farmers, trust in mobile money agents, and messaging to curb corruption.
- George Kariuki Kinyanjui focuses on understanding preferences for charitable giving and why people choose to donate resources in times of adversity instead of opting for more efficient insurance options.
- Kim Fe Cramer focuses on development economics and household finance. She investigates how rural households in India are affected when a bank enters their village, particularly in terms of access to credit, savings accounts, and coping with shocks.
- Peter Babyenda’s research focuses on examining factors that influence farmers to adapt to climate change.
- John Siegfred aims to examine how language and geographical similarities can promote social interaction and exchange of agricultural commodities among traders.
- Marius Vollberg aims to understand how people’s intuitions about taking advice inform their decisions and whether those intuitions can be adjusted in different decision-making contexts.
- Isabel Macdonald investigates how social stigmas prevent information on scammers from spreading, and the consequences for mobile money usage and trust in mobile money agents.
- Laura Barasa studies the effect of gambling warning messages and peer effects on gambling behavior through a lab game involving penalty shoot-out videos and betting.
- Stuart Russell and Nicole Wilson focus on understanding why voters in the Global South vote for incumbent politicians despite their poor performance.
- Aidan Milliff studies understanding how people make safety-seeking decisions in violent situations. He aims to answer questions about civilians enduring conflict, forced migration, the legacies of violence, and the security politics of South Asia.
- Lynda Nakalawa conducted an experiment to explore whether a single shot online message could increase youth’s willingness to engage in critical thinking.
