ISDC’s Behavior Research Program analyses how people, households and groups cope with major shocks to lives and livelihoods. We study how experiencing these shocks shapes choices, preferences and coping strategies, and contributes to wellbeing at the individual and household levels, as well as how they aggregate through society as a whole.
Human development faces its toughest challenges in settings characterised by multiple shocks. At the same time, understanding of how people behave under such conditions has been hard to achieve, with learning often inhibited by the sheer complexity of a situation that can give rise to multiple simultaneous shocks. Providing understanding in such contexts is the foundation stone of research in this program.
Such evidence is needed both in academic debates and for the design and implementation of effective interventions that support households facing these shocks. How positive behaviors can be fostered in extreme adversity, and how these behaviors can result in better wellbeing outcomes are key questions that motivate our research.
Our work on underpinning behavioral responses in such settings support agencies in designing interventions. Our work on impact evaluations, in turn, helps to create evidence on the performance of interventions operated in some of the most challenging environments.
