nep-fle New Economics Papers
on Financial Literacy and Education
Issue of 2023‒11‒27
five papers chosen by



  1. Financial inclusion, sustainability and sustainable development By Ozili, Peterson K
  2. That’s what she said: An Empirical Investigation on the Gender Gap in Inflation Expectations By Lovisa Reiche
  3. Towards financial inclusion: trust in banks’ payment services among groups at risk By Marie-Claire Broekhoff; Carin van der Cruijsen; Jakob de Haan
  4. Workplace, Investment and Environmental Sustainability - German Office Employees' Expectations of Office Buildings By Martin Christian Höcker; Christian Schlereth; Andreas Pfnür
  5. The Role of Bank-Fintech Partnerships in Creating a More Inclusive Banking System By Alan Chernoff; Julapa Jagtiani

  1. By: Ozili, Peterson K
    Abstract: Given the growing interest in financial inclusion, the possibility of integrating financial inclusion into the sustainability and sustainable development agenda needs to be explored. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to establish a link between financial inclusion, sustainability and sustainable development. The paper used discourse analysis to establish a link between financial inclusion, sustainability and sustainable development. It was argued that financial inclusion contributes to sustainable development by ensuring that access to basic financial services is guaranteed in a sustainable way, and basic financial services are provided in a sustainable way and based on sustainability principles to yield lasting impact for sustainable development. This approach links financial inclusion to sustainable development through the adoption of sustainability principles in offering basic financial services to banked adults. The paper also argued that financial inclusion is more relevant for the economic dimension and social dimension of sustainable development because financial inclusion improves the economic conditions and social welfare of banked adults while it only provides limited benefits for the environmental dimension of sustainable development. There is a need for a merger between financial inclusion and sustainable development based on sustainability principles. This will require polices that integrate financial inclusion to the sustainable development agenda.
    Keywords: sustainable development, financial inclusion, sustainability, financial institutions, unbanked adults, access to finance, poverty reduction, economic dimension, social dimension, sustainable development goals, United Nations.
    JEL: G21 Q01
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:118880&r=fle
  2. By: Lovisa Reiche
    Abstract: The gender gap in inflation expectations, i.e., women reporting systematically higher inflation expectations in consumer surveys, is a well-established phenomenon. The dis parity has been attributed to women’s greater involvement in grocery shopping and exposure to volatile food prices. I evaluate this hypothesis using a Bayesian learning framework, which suggests that signal volatility increases mean expectations only when ever the prior is flat. Such a flat prior could be caused by low financial literacy, which is more prevalent in women. Using data from the “Bundesbank Online Panel – House holds”, I find that grocery shopping increases expectations only for a low literacy sample and including a control for financial literacy closes the gender gap fully. This observation has significant macroeconomic implications, including potential gender-based disparities in retirement investment and monetary policy targeting.
    Date: 2023–10–23
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:1025&r=fle
  3. By: Marie-Claire Broekhoff; Carin van der Cruijsen; Jakob de Haan
    Abstract: Using unique payment diary survey data, this paper analyses trust in the Dutch payment system (broad-scope trust) and trust in the payment services of customers’ own bank (narrow-scope trust) among several customer groups at risk of being financially excluded due to the ongoing digitalisation. We focus on people with low digital skills, disabilities or financial difficulties. Our results suggest that respondents with low digital skills or those who experience difficulties to make ends meet have below-average levels of both broad-scope and narrow-scope trust. Among people who have difficulty walking or are wheelchair-bound we find a significant positive effect on broad-scope trust in the payment system in general, while blind or visually impaired people and people with limited or no hand function are less likely to have trust in the payment system compared to people who do not belong to one of these groups. Among those who fall in a group at risk due to a physical disability, we only uncover a significant negative effect on narrow-scope trust for people who are blind or with a visual impairment. Respondents with little broad-scope trust report various reasons for their lack of trust, such as dissatisfaction with banks’ policies and the cost of bank services, interruptions in the payment system and the ongoing digitalisation of payment services. The findings underscore the importance of cultivating an accessible and inclusive payment system to increase financial inclusion from a trust-centred perspective.
    Keywords: trust in payment services; customer groups at risk; broad-scope trust; narrow-scope trust; digital literacy
    JEL: D12 G21 O33
    Date: 2023–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:795&r=fle
  4. By: Martin Christian Höcker; Christian Schlereth; Andreas Pfnür
    Abstract: Office buildings are undergoing massive structural change: In view of a changing working world and of increasing competition from work-from-home and third workplaces, they must meet rising user interests, also as a resource in the war for talent. Under the impact of climate change, the ecological transformation of the building stock is essential due to its particular significance for greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, office buildings should continue to fulfil their investment function on the capital markets. The discussion about the transformation of office buildings has so far taken place academically among experts. The opinion of those most directly affected, the office workers, has so far remained unheard. Yet their opinion could be of particular importance due to the necessary acceptance of possible solutions for resolving any conflicting goals between user, investment and sustainability perspectives. This study fills the gap and examines stakeholders' trade-offs between the three perspectives. The aim of the study is to investigate office workers' preference for the requirements from the three perspectives as well as the influence of different personality traits, such as environmental awareness or financial literacy, on the trade-off process. For this purpose, a choice-based conjoint analysis was conducted among 1, 000 German office workers. The results represent the first measurement of the importance of office workers' requirements for office building from the three perspectives and underline the importance of personality traits for respondents' ratings. The findings highlight directions for further research and provide important implications for business practice around office building transformation.
    Keywords: Investment decisions; Sustainable Real Estate; sustainable transformation; User preference
    JEL: R3
    Date: 2023–01–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2023_314&r=fle
  5. By: Alan Chernoff; Julapa Jagtiani
    Abstract: Fintech firms are often viewed as competing with banks. Instead, more recently, there has been growth in partnership and collaboration between fintech firms and banks. These partnerships have allowed banks to access more information on consumers through data aggregation, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), and other tools. We explore the demographics of consumers targeted by banks that have entered into such partnerships. Specifically, we test whether banks are more likely to extend credit offers (by mail) and/or credit originations to consumers who would have otherwise been deemed high risk either because of low credit scores or lack of credit scores altogether. Our analysis uses data on credit offers based on a survey conducted by Mintel, as well as data on credit originations based on the Federal Reserve’s Y-14M reports. Additionally, we analyze a unique data set of partnerships between fintech firms and banks compiled by CB Insights to identify the relevant partnerships. Our results indicate that banks are more likely to offer credit cards and personal loans to the credit invisible and below-prime consumers — and are also more likely to grant larger credit limits to those consumers — after the partnership period. Similarly, we find that fintech partnerships result in banks being more likely to originate mortgage loans to nonprime homebuyers and that they increase the mortgage loan amounts that banks grant to nonprime buyers as well. Overall, we find that these partnerships could help to move us toward a more inclusive financial system.
    Keywords: Fintech; alternative data; fintech partnership; financial inclusion; credit invisible
    JEL: G21 G28 G18 L21
    Date: 2023–10–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:97019&r=fle

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