Savings and self-control: the effect of labelling

I designed and implemented a Randomized Controlled Trial to study the effects of publicly and privately labelling village savings and loan associations’ savings accounts on savings behaviour for low-income individuals in Colombia. I find that publicly labelling savings accounts increased savings by 18 and 25 percent inside and outside the commitment product, respectively, relative to the control group. They were also 43 percent more likely to reach their savings goal. In contrast, privately labelling savings accounts is not effective at increasing savings for an average saver, suggesting that labelling is only effective when savings purposes are observed by peers.