Why Don't We Sleep Enough? A Field Experiment Among College Students / Mallory L. Avery, Osea Giuntella, Peiran Jiao.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Avery, Mallory L.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Giuntella, Osea.

Jiao, Peiran.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30375.

NBER working paper series no. w30375

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

This study investigates the mechanisms affecting sleep choice and explores whether commitment devices and monetary incentives can be used to promote healthier sleep habits. To this end, we conducted a field experiment with college students, providing them incentives to sleep and collecting data from wearable activity trackers, surveys, and time-use diaries. Monetary incentives were effective in increasing sleep duration with some evidence of persistence after the incentive was removed. We uncover evidence of demand for commitment. Our results are consistent with partially sophisticated time-inconsistent preferences and overconfidence, and have implications for the effectiveness of information interventions on sleep choice.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2022.