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  • January 2022
  • Article
  • American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Rational Habit Formation: Experimental Evidence from Handwashing in India

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Atonu Rabbani, Giovanni Reggiani and Natalia Rigol
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:41
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Abstract

We test the predictions of the rational addiction model, reconceptualized as rational habit formation, in the context of handwashing in rural India. To track handwashing, we design soap dispensers with timed sensors. We test for rational habit formation by informing some households about a future change in the returns to daily handwashing. Monitoring and incentives raise handwashing contemporaneously, and effects persist well after they end. In addition, people are rational about this habit formation: when they anticipate future monitoring, they increase their current handwashing. Average child weight and height increase for all study arms given soap dispensers.

Keywords

Handwashing; Habit; Monitoring; Behavior; Health; Motivation and Incentives

Citation

Hussam, Reshmaan, Atonu Rabbani, Giovanni Reggiani, and Natalia Rigol. "Rational Habit Formation: Experimental Evidence from Handwashing in India." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 14, no. 1 (January 2022): 1–41. (Lead Article.)

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About The Authors

Reshmaan N. Hussam

Business, Government and the International Economy
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Natalia Rigol

Entrepreneurial Management
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More from the Authors
  • Labor Unions in the United States By: Reshmaan Hussam, Trevor Fetter and Grace Liu
  • The Psychosocial Value of Employment: Evidence from a Refugee Camp By: Reshmaan Hussam, Erin M. Kelley, Gregory Lane and Fatima Zahra
  • What Do Impact Investors Do Differently? By: Shawn A. Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
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