Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/67228 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6927
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Many households have insufficient savings to handle moderate and routine consumption shocks. Many of these financially fragile households also have the highest lottery expenditures as a proportion of income. This combination suggests that Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) accounts, that combine principal-security with lottery-type jackpots, can increase savings among these at-risk households. Results from an online experiment show that the introduction of PLS accounts increase total savings and reduce lottery expenditures significantly, especially among individuals with the lowest levels of savings and income. The results imply that PLS accounts offer a plausible market-based solution to nudge individuals to increase savings.
Subjects: 
savings
individual decision making
personal finance
lotteries
experimental economics
JEL: 
E21
D14
C91
L83
D12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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