The effect of providing peer information on retirement savings decisions

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Summary

We measure how receiving information about coworkers' savings behavior affects recipients' savings choices. Employees of a large company who were not participating in or contributing little to the ...

We measure how receiving information about coworkers' savings behavior affects recipients' savings choices. Employees of a large company who were not participating in or contributing little to the company's retirement savings plan were sent a simplified enrollment or contribution rate increase form. A randomized subset of forms included information on the fraction of coworkers either participating in or contributing at least 6% of pay to the plan. We find that peer information increased savings of non-unionized recipients but decreased savings of unionized recipients. Our results highlight the possibilities and limitations of peer information interventions.

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