Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

Dr. Dean Karlan, Dr. Nava Ashrad, and Dr. Wesley Yin conducted an experiment in the Philippines, where they offered commitment savings products to a subset of 710 randomly selected clients of a Phillippine bank. Since after 12 months the average savings balances increased, this study demonstrated that commitment savings products can result in lasting change in savings beyond the initial, positive short-term response to the new product.