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Competition as a Savings Incentive: a Field Experiment at a Homeless Shelter

Author

Listed:
  • Sera Linardi

    (Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), University of Pittsburgh
    Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh)

  • Tomomi Tanaka

    (School of Global Studies, Arizona State University)

Abstract

This paper describes a randomized field experiment testing the impact of a savings competition on the behavior of homeless individuals staying at a transitional shelter. When monetary prizes were offered for achieving the highest savings rates within a particular month, savings increased while income and attendance at case management meetings remained unchanged. However, repeating the competition in the following month had no effect. This is because individuals who increased their savings rate in response to the competition left the shelter after the first month. In general, while income is positively correlated with continued stay at the shelter, saving at high rates appears to predict early exit.

Suggested Citation

  • Sera Linardi & Tomomi Tanaka, 2012. "Competition as a Savings Incentive: a Field Experiment at a Homeless Shelter," Working Paper 484, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh.
    • Handle: RePEc:pit:wpaper:484
    as

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    File URL: http://www.linardi.gspia.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/homelessShelter_LinardiTanaka.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    field experiment; savings; income; competition; poverty; social services; homelessness; time inconsistency; participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • L3 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise

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