Saving incentives for low- and middle-income families: Evidence from a field experiment with H&R block

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Duflo, Esther; Gale, William; Liebman, Jeffrey; Orszag, Peter; Saez, Emmanuel
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; Brookings Institution; Harvard University; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/qjec.121.4.1311
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 1311-1346
• 关键词: 401(K); PARTICIPATION; plans

摘要

We analyze a randomized experiment in which 14,000 tax filers in H&R Block offices in St. Louis received matches of zero, 20 percent, or 50 percent of IRA contributions. Take-up rates were 3 percent, 8 percent, and 14 percent, respectively. Among contributors, contributions, excluding the match, averaged $765 in the control group and $1100 in the match groups. Taxpayer responses to similar incentives in the Saver's Credit are much smaller. Taxpayers did not game the experiment by receiving a match and strategically withdrawing funds. Tax professionals significantly influenced contribution choices. These results suggest that both incentives and information affect behavior.