Can Gambling Increase Savings? Empirical Evidence on Prize-Linked Savings Accounts
研究南非银行数据发现，有奖储蓄账户吸引财务受限和无其他存款账户的人，参与后总储蓄平均增加年收入的1%，且替代彩票赌博、补充标准储蓄。
This paper studies the adoption and impact of prize-linked savings (PLS) accounts, which offer lottery-like payouts to individual account holders in lieu of interest. Using microlevel data from a bank in South Africa, we show that PLS is attractive to a broad group of individuals, with financially constrained individuals and those with no other deposit accounts particularly likely to participate. Individuals who choose to use PLS increase their total savings on average by 1% of annual income. Exploiting the random assignment of prizes, we present causal evidence that PLS substitutes for lottery gambling but is a complement to standard savings. This paper was accepted by Tyler Shumway, finance.