The Kyiv Behavioural Lab is a research platform at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) focused on conflict, peacebuilding, and social cohesion, bringing together behavioural economics and related social sciences. We study how people make decisions under risk and uncertainty, how trust and cooperation change when communities face disruption, and which interventions can strengthen resilience and support recovery.
The lab is part of a growing Behavioural Economics research programme at KSE, with a broader mission to promote behavioural science as a field in Ukraine. Our ambition is to connect fundamental research to applied impact by building relationships with policymakers, international organizations, and NGOs working on recovery and reconstruction.
Advancing scientific understanding of human behaviour in conflict and post-conflict settings through rigorous experimental and observational studies.
Translating research insights into evidence-based interventions that support recovery, reconciliation, and institution-building.
Building bridges between academia and practice through partnerships with policymakers, international organizations, and civil society.
Ukraine offers a unique setting for behavioural research on conflict and recovery. Since 2014, and especially since the full-scale invasion of 2022, the country has experienced profound disruption to social structures, institutions, and daily life. This creates both an urgent need for evidence-based interventions and a rare opportunity to study human behaviour under conditions that are typically difficult to observe.
Kyiv, as the capital and largest city, is home to a diverse population that includes long-term residents, internally displaced persons, and people with varying degrees of exposure to conflict. This diversity allows researchers to study how different experiences shape preferences, trust, cooperation, and decision-making within a single urban context.
Based in Kyiv, we have direct access to populations affected by conflict, enabling research that would be impossible from a distance.
We draw on methods from behavioural economics and related social sciences to address complex questions about decision-making, trust, and cooperation in conflict settings.
Our research is designed to produce actionable insights, with established links to policymakers.