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on Financial Literacy and Education |
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Issue of 2026–07–13
three papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | Cota, Marta; Frech, Maria; Morazzoni, Marta; Tallent, Michael |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether financial literacy shapes gender differences in wealth. Using data from the United States and the Netherlands, we document that women have lower financial literacy and confidence than men, are less likely to manage long-term investments within their households, and hold fewer financial assets, with the largest gaps among married agents. We build a life-cycle portfolio-choice model with endogenous financial literacy accumulation and marital dynamics centered around two wedges: a higher cost of literacy investment for married women and gender-specific perceived returns on risky assets. The calibrated model qualitatively matches untargeted life-cycle patterns in literacy and portfolio choice, accounting for a third of the gender gap in individual financial assets. Counterfactual exercises show that early-life financial education can narrow the gender knowledge gap, and portfolio-allocation rules may offset confidence and marriage-related wedges that education may not undo, lowering the wealth gap by 6%. |
| JEL: | E21 G11 G53 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21394 |
| By: | Juan Carlos Angulo (Department of Economics, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico); Monia Gruber (Facultad de Ciencias Economicas y Empresariales, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship between criminality and financial inclusion across 128 countries using data from the Global Findex Database and the Global Organized Crime Index. We assess whether the presence of criminal actors and criminal markets influences individuals' likelihood of owning a financial account. The results indicate that higher levels of criminality are associated with a lower probability of account ownership. This relationship is driven primarily by the presence of criminal actors, particularly state-embedded actors and mafia-style groups, rather than criminal markets. Regional analyses reveal substantial heterogeneity, with the strongest negative effects observed in East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. The findings contribute to the literature on criminality, financial inclusion, and digital finance by highlighting how criminal governance structures may undermine access to formal financial services. |
| JEL: | G21 G40 O30 |
| Date: | 2026–07–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smx:wpaper:2026008 |
| By: | Jessica Piccolo; Alessia Russo; Eleonora Granziera; Efrem Castelnuovo |
| Abstract: | We design a novel survey to study how education shapes households' joint beliefs about inflation, unemployment, and monetary policy transmission. College-educated respondents perceive the inflation-unemployment trade-off and hold views similar to professional forecasters, while less educated respondents favor supply-side narratives. When exposed to hypothetical monetary policy interventions, the more educated update expectations and adjust consumption and saving in line with standard models, whereas the less educated display greater rigidity. This education gradient persists after controlling for information sources, financial literacy, and institutional trust, pointing to differences in abstract reasoning. Open-ended responses are consistent with college-educated households holding mental models aligned with standard macroeconomic theory. |
| Keywords: | household expectations, education, mental models, monetary policy transmission, belief heterogeneity, survey data. |
| JEL: | D83 D84 E31 E52 I21 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12784 |