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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
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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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    By: Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
More from the Authors
  • Indigenous Wisdom and the Climate Crisis By: Reshmaan Hussam
  • Investing in the Next Generation: The Long-Run Impacts of a Liquidity Shock By: Patrick Agte, Arielle Bernhardt, Erica M. Field, Rohini Pande and Natalia Rigol
  • Targeting High Ability Entrepreneurs Using Community Information: Mechanism Design in the Field By: Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
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