Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation
- (pp. 213-35)
Abstract
We designed and tested a voluntary commitment product to help smokers quit smoking. The product (CARES) offered smokers a savings account in which they deposit funds for six months, after which they take a urine test for nicotine and cotinine. If they pass, their money is returned; otherwise, their money is forfeited to charity. Of smokers offered CARES, 11 percent took up, and smokers randomly offered CARES were 3 percentage points more likely to pass the 6-month test than the control group. More importantly, this effect persisted in surprise tests at 12 months, indicating that CARES produced lasting smoking cessation. (JEL D12, I12, O15)Citation
Giné, Xavier, Dean Karlan, and Jonathan Zinman. 2010. "Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2 (4): 213-35. DOI: 10.1257/app.2.4.213Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- I12 Health Production
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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