Cultural Aspects of Retirement Saving Decisions

Last registered on January 31, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Cultural Aspects of Retirement Saving Decisions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012807
Initial registration date
January 26, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 31, 2024, 11:46 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Italy
Region
Trentino-Südtirol/Alto Adige

Primary Investigator

Name
Andreas Dibiasi
Affiliation
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mirco Tonin
PI Affiliation
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
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PI Name
Claudia Curi
PI Affiliation
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
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PI Name
Matteo Ploner
PI Affiliation
University of Trento
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-01-28
End date
2025-02-02
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Saving decisions
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the role of financial literacy and cultural aspects in retirement saving decisions. To this end, we conduct a survey experiment among 1000 individuals in the region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Curi, Claudia et al. 2024. "Cultural Aspects of Retirement Saving Decisions." AEA RCT Registry. January 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12807-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
We examine how financial literacy, language and other cultural factors influence individuals' decisions regarding voluntary retirement savings. To address this research question, we first ask individuals about the average life expectancy of a person of the same gender and age as the interviewee, living in the same region. We then provide participants with the average life expectancy based on age, gender and region as provided by the Italian statistical office and measure to what extent this information provision leads to an update in participants beliefs about their own life expectancy. Subsequently, we study to what extent this update affects participants' retirement saving plans. We expect individuals who experience a stronger revision of their a-priori beliefs to report a stronger update of their retirement saving plans. We then exploit the high cultural heterogeneity of the region and examine to what extent changes in retirement saving plans correlate with individual characteristics, including trust, language, and the level of financial literary.
Intervention Start Date
2024-01-28
Intervention End Date
2024-02-11

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We have various outcome variables:
Change in beliefs about life expectancy.
Change in planned retirement age.
Change in the amount participants plan to save for retirement.
Changes in the propensity to transform retirement savings into a pension or take the whole capital at once.
Change in subjective beliefs that one has done a good job in planning retirement.
Propensity if a participant without voluntary retirement savings, plans to start saving voluntarily for retirement in the future.
Propensity if a participant states that she wants to get additional information on voluntary retirement savings.
Propensity if a participant provides email address to receive additional information.
Propensity if a participants, who provided email and receives additional information, actually clicks on links in the email.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a survey experiment among 1000 individuals in the region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy.
Experimental Design Details
We conduct a survey experiment among 1000 individuals in the region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. Specifically, we implement a randomized control trial. We provide half of our sample with information about their average remaining life expectancy based on age, gender and region as provided by the Italian statistical office. The control group receives a generic information stating that the Italian statistical office provides information about the average life expectancy based on age, gender and region.
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We have the following six clusters:
Trentino - Male
Trentino - Female
Alto Adige - German - Male
Alto Adige - German - Female
Alto Adige - Italian - Male
Alto Adige - Italian - Female

Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 treatment and 500 control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials