The BRACE team collaborates with both local and global academics and researchers to conduct contextualized behavioral studies and experiments including lab, lab-in-the-field, and field experiments.

We advance behavioral science by partnering with researchers to produce contextualized cutting-edge rigorous research, test interventions, and co-produce knowledge about human behavior under poverty conditions in the Global South. We apply behavioral science by partnering with Busara’s advisory teams to integrate accumulated research knowledge and tools into sector-specific projects with various organizations.

BRACE also manages Busara’s behavioral labs. Busara is home to one of the first and largest behavioral lab facilities in the Global South. Our two permanent labs in Nairobi, Kenya, have a combined capacity of 60 persons (30 each lab), with additional spaces for waiting rooms, side rooms for focus group discussions or in-depth interviews.

A lab experiment’s key function is to understand behavioral mechanisms, enabling researchers and policymakers to design and test behaviorally informed interventions in a controlled environment before heading out to the field and scaling up. Beyond our permanent labs, Busara also has the capacity to set up labs in the field and mobile (moving) labs in most parts of the world and in remote areas. This flexibility allows us to generate valuable, policy-relevant insights across real-world diverse environments.

Finally, we believe in empowering local organizations to take the lead in shaping the direction of research and the type of questions that need to be investigated and are most suitable to their contexts. This is why BRACE  works closely with organizations and governments to build capacity in conducting behavioral experiments, testing interventions, and establishing their own in-house behavioral labs or units.