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Put your money where your butt is : a commitment contract for smoking cessation

Author

Listed:
  • Gine, Xavier
  • Karlan, Dean
  • Zinman, Jonathan

Abstract

The authors 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. Eleven percent of smokers offered CARES tookup, 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Gine, Xavier & Karlan, Dean & Zinman, Jonathan, 2009. "Put your money where your butt is : a commitment contract for smoking cessation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4985, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tobacco Use and Control; Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Disease Control&Prevention; Alcohol and Substance Abuse; Adolescent Health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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