The Impacts of Matching Contributions on Retirement Savings : Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in Turkey

Using a dataset containing information for more than 39 million contracts and a quasi-experimental design provided by national matching contribution policy reform in Turkey, we study the effects of matching contributions on saving outcomes and determine heterogeneities in responses to matching contribution. Differences-in-differences estimations show that the program leads to a substantial rise in contributions paid. The matching contribution policy raises contributions paid by 18 percent. Moreover, after 30 percent sharp rise in the match threshold, we examine the effect of the upsurge in threshold on the contributions paid. Overall, our results imply that the match threshold is binding and financial incentives significantly raise saving contributions