Long term savings decisions: Financial reform, peer effects and ethnicity

• Published in: Journal of economic behavior & organization Vol. 106; pp. 235 - 253
• Main Authors: Mugerman, Yevgeny, Sade, Orly, Shayo, Moses
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2014; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Capital markets; Decision analysis; Employees; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; Financial reform; Financial reforms; Long-term analysis; Middle East; Peer effects; Reforms; Savings; Savings decisions; Social environment; Social psychology; Studies; Israel; Savings decisions; Peer effects; G14; Financial reform; D14; G11
• ISSN: 0167-2681; 1879-1751
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.07.002

•In 2005, a reform in the Israeli capital market shifted the power to choose savings vehicles from employers to individuals.•We study individual decisions following the reform using personnel data from a large employer.•Individual choice of fund was not associated with observable measures of fund performance, but was strongly affected by the choices of co-workers from the same ethnic group. In 2005, a drastic reform in the Israeli capital market shifted the power to choose savings vehicles from employers to individuals. Using a unique dataset from a large employer, this event provides us a rare window into individuals’ savings decisions and the effect of their social environment. In the first year following the reform's implementation, 7% of the employees switched out of the fund in which they all previously saved. Choice of fund was not associated with observable measures of fund performance, but was strongly affected by the employees’ social environment. Exploiting within-department variation in peer groups, we find that savings decisions were strongly influenced by the choices of co-workers from the same ethnic group. Interviews also point to the influence of non-professional colleagues.