Save More Later and Particularly after Your Next Birthday: The Effect of Procrastination on Retirement Savings

Last registered on November 24, 2013
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Save More Later and Particularly after Your Next Birthday: The Effect of Procrastination on Retirement Savings
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000144
First published
November 24, 2013, 3:52 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Hengchen Dai
Affiliation
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Shlomo Benartzi
PI Affiliation
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PI Name
John Beshears
PI Affiliation
Harvard Business School
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PI Name
Katherine Milkman
PI Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2013-10-04
End date
2014-06-30
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Can higher savings be generated using behavioral economics insights regarding procrastination? With five U.S. universities and a large national record keeper, we will randomize mailings sent to university employees encouraging increased retirement savings. Mailings will allow employees to increase savings by completing a simple form. We will randomly assign eligible employees to receive one of several different mailings.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Benartzi, Shlomo et al. 2013. "Save More Later and Particularly after Your Next Birthday: The Effect of Procrastination on Retirement Savings." AEA RCT Registry. November 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.144-1.0
Former Citation
Benartzi, Shlomo et al. 2013. "Save More Later and Particularly after Your Next Birthday: The Effect of Procrastination on Retirement Savings." AEA RCT Registry. November 24. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/144/history/634
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will randomize mailings sent to university employees encouraging increased retirement savings. Mailings will allow employees to increase savings by completing a simple form. We will randomly assign eligible employees to receive one of several different mailings.
Intervention Start Date
2013-10-04
Intervention End Date
2013-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Registration for the corresponding university's Retirement Plan and Amount contributed to retirement plan
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will conduct a large-scale field experiment in collaboration with five U.S. universities and a large national record keeper. Eligible employees will be contacted by mail and be encouraged to increase their retirement savings.We will randomly assign eligible employees to receive one of a few different mailings.
Experimental Design Details
We will randomly assign eligible employees to receive one of several different mailings. Some recipients will be encouraged to increase savings immediately. Others will be able to choose whether to increase savings immediately or at a time delay (e.g., “in three months”). A third group will receive mailings identical to those in the second group, except the time delay option will correspond to increasing savings on a meaningful future date (e.g., “on your next birthday”).
Randomization Method
By a computer
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
26,431 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
26,431 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 30% individuals in one arm, 30% in a second arm, and 40% in the third arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Pennsylvania
IRB Approval Date
2013-10-01
IRB Approval Number
817560
IRB Name
University of Pennsylvania
IRB Approval Date
2013-10-01
IRB Approval Number
817560
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