Saving by Default: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural India
通过印度农村的随机实验，发现将付款默认存入银行账户而非现金支付，使储蓄在3个月内增加131%，且效果持久，但恢复现金支付后差异消失，表明默认设置显著影响储蓄行为。
Access to banks is rapidly increasing worldwide, and allows account-based instead of cash transfers. We conduct a randomized experiment documenting the impact of the payment method on savings behavior. In India, we allocate identical weekly payments into a bank account (treated) or in cash (control). Savings in the account increase by 131 percent within 3 months, and the effect is long lasting. We also show that cash payments increase consumption and that—once everyone is paid in cash again—the savings patterns no longer differ. We interpret these findings as a default effect, and we further discuss plausible mechanisms.