Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours
Health behaviors are plagued by self-control problems, and commitment devices are frequently proposed as a solution. We show that a simple alternative works even better: appointments. We randomly offer HIV testing appointments and financial com¬mitment devices to high-risk men in Malawi. Ap...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Centre for the Study of African Economies
2021
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| _version_ | 1797084434374066176 |
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| author | Derksen, L Kerwin, JT Ordaz Reynoso, N Sterck, O |
| author_facet | Derksen, L Kerwin, JT Ordaz Reynoso, N Sterck, O |
| author_sort | Derksen, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Health behaviors are plagued by self-control problems, and commitment devices are frequently proposed as a solution. We show that a simple alternative works even better: appointments. We randomly offer HIV testing appointments and financial com¬mitment devices to high-risk men in Malawi. Appointments are much more effective than financial commitment devices, more than doubling testing rates. In contrast, most men who take up financial commitment devices lose their investments. Appointments address procrastination without the potential drawback of commitment failure, and also address limited memory problems. Appointments have the potential to increase demand for healthcare in the developing world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:55:11Z |
| format | Working paper |
| id | oxford-uuid:9b77bbe4-7cdd-4d15-bcf4-86fb7f993016 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:55:11Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Centre for the Study of African Economies |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9b77bbe4-7cdd-4d15-bcf4-86fb7f9930162022-03-27T00:29:02ZAppointments: a more effective commitment device for health behavioursWorking paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:9b77bbe4-7cdd-4d15-bcf4-86fb7f993016EnglishSymplectic ElementsCentre for the Study of African Economies2021Derksen, LKerwin, JTOrdaz Reynoso, NSterck, OHealth behaviors are plagued by self-control problems, and commitment devices are frequently proposed as a solution. We show that a simple alternative works even better: appointments. We randomly offer HIV testing appointments and financial com¬mitment devices to high-risk men in Malawi. Appointments are much more effective than financial commitment devices, more than doubling testing rates. In contrast, most men who take up financial commitment devices lose their investments. Appointments address procrastination without the potential drawback of commitment failure, and also address limited memory problems. Appointments have the potential to increase demand for healthcare in the developing world. |
| spellingShingle | Derksen, L Kerwin, JT Ordaz Reynoso, N Sterck, O Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title | Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title_full | Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title_fullStr | Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title_full_unstemmed | Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title_short | Appointments: a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| title_sort | appointments a more effective commitment device for health behaviours |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT derksenl appointmentsamoreeffectivecommitmentdeviceforhealthbehaviours AT kerwinjt appointmentsamoreeffectivecommitmentdeviceforhealthbehaviours AT ordazreynoson appointmentsamoreeffectivecommitmentdeviceforhealthbehaviours AT stercko appointmentsamoreeffectivecommitmentdeviceforhealthbehaviours |