Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
![Digital Commons Network](http://assets.bepress.com/20200205/img/dcn/DCsunburst.png)
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Save To Win: Using Contests To Promote Savings, Bryan Mccannon, Zachary Rodriguez, Roman Sheremeta
Save To Win: Using Contests To Promote Savings, Bryan Mccannon, Zachary Rodriguez, Roman Sheremeta
Faculty & Staff Scholarship
We ask whether linking savings accounts to contests can promote saving. We do this by offering contest-linked accounts to individuals in rural Uganda where poverty is a serious problem. Our design builds off of results in experimental economics documenting excessive competitiveness in contests, with the goal of harnessing this behavior for the good. We find that, properly designed, we encourage savings beyond both pre-treatment levels and the control group. We explore reasonable heterogeneous treatment effects and document long lasting impacts on wealth.