The virtue of saving money

Project Lead: Kerstin Grosch
Team: Anna Walter, Michael Keinprecht, Sabine Neuhofer, Katharina Reitsamer
Duration: November 2019 – June 2023
Funding: Münze Österreich AG – Austrian Mint


Money management skills should be learned early in life to develop and manifest financial knowledge, thought patterns and habits. Not spending money right away but saving (part of) it requires a certain amount of self-control and patience. Our main goal of this study is to find out whether young people can “learn” to make patient decisions. To set the ground for the empirical investigation, we first study the literature on the subject of saving behavior and patience. Based on this, we develop interventions that aim at increasing saving behavior and patience. We test these interventions in schools in an experimental field study (RCT) to evaluate their causal effect. To find out more about the underlying motives of saving behavior, we use laboratory experimental methods and surveys. The results will be published and presented to participating schools after the study has been completed. The study is financed by the Münze Österreich AG.