Mobile-izing savings with automatic contributions: Experimental evidence on dynamic inconsistency and the default effect in Afghanistan

Working with Afghanistan’s primary mobile phone operator, the authors of this working paper designed and deployed a new mobile phone-based automatic payroll deduction system at the country’s largest firm. Through a field experiment, they found that default enrollment in payroll deductions increased rates of savings by 40 percentage points, and that this increase is driven by present-biased preferences.

• Date: 01/04/2016
• Sector: Services
• Topics: Digital technology
• Regions: Asia and the Pacific
• Resource type: Publications
• Institutions: Innovations for Poverty Action