Press Release – Launching Nudge Lebanon’s Behavioral Science and Experimental Economics Lab in Lebanon: the Consumer Citizen Lab
Nudge Lebanon is proud to announce the launch of its Consumer Citizen Lab (CCL), a research facility that will conduct lab-based experiments, and provide a further push for evidence-based policymaking in Lebanon and the region. The new behavioral science and experimental economics lab will build on Nudge Lebanon’s expertise and legacy in running field experiments, as well as advance the organization’s research efforts on compliance and rule of law, and socio-economic development, with a particular attention to post-conflict public policy challenges in Lebanon and the region.
The CCL, Nudge Lebanon’s jewel offering and its pioneering initiative across Lebanon and the region, has been made possible through generous funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The lab, which will be launched in November 2019, will be operated in collaboration with the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, a research and advisory institution specialized in advancing and applying behavioral science in the Global South. The lab will also collaborate with Nudgeco, a Lebanese enterprise using behavioral science for greater social impact, as well as other leading behavioral insights initiatives in the region such as B4Development (formerly Qatar Behavioral Insights Unit), and universities in Lebanon, including the Lebanese University. It will also join forces with regional institutions to foster cross-country collaboration and innovation in applied research, capacity building and other institutional initiatives in areas of behavioral science and experimental economics.
Spanning an area of 300 square meters, the CCL’s new physical space will boast state of the art technology and facilities that include 24 networked computers, as well as space to conduct private interviews and focus group discussions. It will also be equipped with portable tablets, making it a truly mobile lab that allows researchers and practitioners to run lab-in-the-field experiments, enabling them to conduct rigorous research in post-conflict areas, and remote areas as well as among vulnerable populations who are most in need of assistance and development.
A first of its kind in Lebanon, the lab will enable researchers and practitioners to study the determinants of human behavior in a controlled environment, and test innovative solutions to complex policy challenges in Lebanon and the region, in order to achieve greater social impact.
