Lost wallets are more likely to be returned if they hold cash
The global study also finds that the rate of return increases as the amount of money goes up
By Sujata Gupta
If you’re prone to losing your wallet, keep it filled with cash.
That’s a tip from researchers who “lost” over 17,000 wallets in 40 countries. In all but two countries, the likelihood of a stranger returning a wallet increased if there was money inside. And the more money in the wallet, the higher the rate of return, the researchers report June 20 in Science.
“We were expecting a lower return rate when [the wallet] had more money,” says behavioral economist Alain Cohn of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.