Alcohol and Self-Control: A Field Experiment in India

Frank Schilbach

American Economic Review, 2019, vol. 109, issue 4, 1290-1322

Abstract: This paper studies alcohol consumption among low-income workers in India. In a 3-week field experiment, the majority of 229 cycle-rickshaw drivers were willing to forgo substantial monetary payments in order to set incentives for themselves to remain sober, thus exhibiting demand for commitment to sobriety. Randomly receiving sobriety incentives significantly reduced daytime drinking while leaving overall drinking unchanged. I find no evidence of higher daytime sobriety significantly changing labor supply, productivity, or earnings. In contrast, increasing sobriety raised savings by 50 percent, an effect that does not appear to be solely explained by changes in income net of alcohol expenditures.

JEL-codes: C93 D14 I12 J22 J24 J31 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20170458
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (95)

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