TY  - BOOK
AU  - Beshears,John
AU  - Choi,James J.
AU  - Laibson,David
AU  - Madrian,Brigitte C.
AU  - Milkman,Katherine L.
ED  - National Bureau of Economic Research.
TI  - The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions
T2  - NBER working paper series
PY  - 2011///
CY  - Cambridge, Mass.
PB  - National Bureau of Economic Research
N1  - August 2011; Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
N2  - We conducted a field experiment in a 401(k) plan to measure the effect of disseminating information about peer behavior on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset of forms stated the fraction of age-matched coworkers participating in the plan or age-matched participants contributing at least 6% of pay to the plan. We document an oppositional reaction: the presence of peer information <i>decreased</i> the savings of non-participants who were ineligible for 401(k) automatic enrollment, and higher observed peer savings rates also decreased savings. Discouragement from upward social comparisons seems to drive this reaction
UR  - https://www.nber.org/papers/w17345
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w17345
ER  -