IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v81y2021icp385-396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investment in financial literacy and financial advice-seeking: Substitutes or complements?

Author

Listed:
  • Barthel, Anne-Christine
  • Lei, Shan

Abstract

This paper studies the strategic relationship between investment in financial literacy and seeking advice from a financial planner. While the existing literature on this topic considers financial literacy as exogenously given, we propose a simple model in which it is endogenously determined through the consumer's investment in financial literacy. Our theoretical model suggests that in this case, investment in financial literacy and financial advice-seeking are substitutes. We test this hypothesis using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances. When using the propensity score matching method to control for self-selection bias, we find a significant negative relationship between the probability of seeking advice from a financial planner and investment in financial literacy. While these findings cannot be easily explained by existing models, this paper shows that endogenizing financial literacy reconciles the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Barthel, Anne-Christine & Lei, Shan, 2021. "Investment in financial literacy and financial advice-seeking: Substitutes or complements?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 385-396.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:81:y:2021:i:c:p:385-396
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2021.06.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976921001204
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2021.06.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lusardi, Annamaria & Samek, Anya & Kapteyn, Arie & Glinert, Lewis & Hung, Angela & Heinberg, Aileen, 2017. "Visual tools and narratives: new ways to improve financial literacy," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 297-323, July.
    2. Jappelli, Tullio & Padula, Mario, 2015. "Investment in financial literacy, social security, and portfolio choice," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 369-411, October.
    3. Daniel McFadden, 2008. "Human Capital Accumulation and Depreciation," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 379-385.
    4. Lusardi, Annamaria & Tufano, Peter, 2015. "Debt literacy, financial experiences, and overindebtedness," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 332-368, October.
    5. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    6. Annamaria Lusardi & Pierre-Carl Michaud & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2017. "Optimal Financial Knowledge and Wealth Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(2), pages 431-477.
    7. Dimitris Georgarakos & Roman Inderst, 2011. "Financial Advice and Stock Market Participation," BCL working papers 51, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    8. Mitchell Marsden & Cathleen Zick & Robert Mayer, 2011. "The Value of Seeking Financial Advice," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 625-643, December.
    9. Jappelli, Tullio & Padula, Mario, 2013. "Investment in financial literacy and saving decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2779-2792.
    10. Ottaviani, Marco & Sorensen, Peter Norman, 2006. "Professional advice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 120-142, January.
    11. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    12. Shan Lei, 2019. "Financial advice and individual investors’ investment decisions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(13), pages 1129-1132, July.
    13. Disney, Richard & Gathergood, John & Weber, Jörg, 2015. "Credit counseling: a substitute for consumer financial literacy?," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 466-491, October.
    14. Hackethal, Andreas & Haliassos, Michael & Jappelli, Tullio, 2012. "Financial advisors: A case of babysitters?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 509-524.
    15. Wouter Dessein, 2002. "Authority and Communication in Organizations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(4), pages 811-838.
    16. Bucher-Koenen, Tabea & Koenen, Johannes, 2015. "Do Seemingly Smarter Consumers Get Better Advice?," MEA discussion paper series 201501, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    17. Luigi Guiso & Tullio Jappelli, 2008. "Financial Literacy and Portfolio Diversification," EIEF Working Papers Series 0812, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Oct 2008.
    18. Luca Spataro & Lorenzo Corsini, 2017. "Endogenous Financial Literacy, Saving, and Stock Market Participation," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 73(2), pages 135-162, June.
    19. Margarida Abreu & Victor Mendes, 2010. "Financial literacy and portfolio diversification," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(5), pages 515-528.
    20. Wim Groot, 1998. "Empirical estimates of the rate of depreciation of education," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(8), pages 535-538.
    21. Angela Hung & Andrew Parker & Joanne K. Yoong, 2009. "Defining and Measuring Financial Literacy," Working Papers 708, RAND Corporation.
    22. Angela A. Hung & Andrew M. Parker & Joanne K. Yoong, 2009. "Defining and Measuring Financial Literacy," Working Papers WR-708, RAND Corporation.
    23. Adele Atkinson & Flore-Anne Messy, 2012. "Measuring Financial Literacy: Results of the OECD / International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Pilot Study," OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions 15, OECD Publishing.
    24. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2011. "Financial literacy around the world: an overview," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 497-508, October.
    25. Inderst, Roman & Hackethal, Andreas & Meyer, Steffen, 2010. "Trading on Advice," CEPR Discussion Papers 8091, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    26. Riccardo Calcagno & Chiara Monticone, 2015. "Financial Literacy and the Demand for Financial Advice," Post-Print hal-02313173, HAL.
    27. Kramer, Marc M., 2016. "Financial literacy, confidence and financial advice seeking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 198-217.
    28. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    29. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    30. M. Debbich, 2015. "Why Financial Advice Cannot Substitute for Financial Literacy?," Working papers 534, Banque de France.
    31. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
    32. Steffen Westermann & Scott J. Niblock & Jennifer L. Harrison & Michael A. Kortt, 2020. "Financial Advice Seeking: A Review of the Barriers and Benefits," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 39(4), pages 367-388, December.
    33. Spenser Robinson & Andrew Sanderford, 2016. "Green Buildings: Similar to Other Premium Buildings?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 99-116, February.
    34. Crawford, Vincent P & Sobel, Joel, 1982. "Strategic Information Transmission," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1431-1451, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Xiaoshi & Vatsa, Puneet & Ma, Wanglin, 2023. "Impact of internet use on value and diversity of risky financial asset portfolios," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 188-193.
    2. Mazzoli, Camilla & Ferretti, Riccardo & Filotto, Umberto, 2024. "Financial literacy and financial advice seeking: Does product specificity matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 98-110.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    2. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    3. Li, Xiao, 2020. "When financial literacy meets textual analysis: A conceptual review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    4. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    5. Steffen Westermann & Scott J. Niblock & Jennifer L. Harrison & Michael A. Kortt, 2020. "Financial Advice Seeking: A Review of the Barriers and Benefits," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 39(4), pages 367-388, December.
    6. Feng, Xiangnan & Lu, Bin & Song, Xinyuan & Ma, Shuang, 2019. "Financial literacy and household finances: A Bayesian two-part latent variable modeling approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 119-137.
    7. Calcagno, Riccardo & Giofré, Maela & Urzì-Brancati, Maria Cesira, 2017. "To trust is good, but to control is better: How investors discipline financial advisors’ activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 287-316.
    8. M. Debbich, 2015. "Why Financial Advice Cannot Substitute for Financial Literacy?," Working papers 534, Banque de France.
    9. Kramer, Marc M., 2016. "Financial literacy, confidence and financial advice seeking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 198-217.
    10. Hiroshi Fujiki, 2019. "Who needs guidance from a financial adviser? Evidence from Japan," Working Papers on Central Bank Communication 011, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics.
    11. Ziyuan Lyu & Li Wei, 2021. "Information sources and participation in the Chinese insurance market: knowledge as a mediator," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 46(1), pages 79-106, January.
    12. Marotta, Giuseppe, 2020. "Behind the success of dominated personal pension plans: sales force and financial literacy factors," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 532-547, October.
    13. Delis, Manthos & Galariotis, Emilios & Monne, Jerome, 2021. "Economic condition and financial cognition," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Lu, Xiaomeng & Zhang, Yong & Zhang, Yixing & Wang, Lin, 2020. "Can investment advisors promote rational investment? Evidence from micro-data in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 251-263.
    15. Litterscheidt, Rouven & Streich, David J., 2020. "Financial education and digital asset management: What's in the black box?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    16. Reiter-Gavish, Liron & Qadan, Mahmoud & Yagil, Joseph, 2021. "Financial advice: Who Exactly Follows It?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 244-258.
    17. Shin, Su Hyun & Kim, Kyoung Tae & Seay, Martin, 2020. "Sources of information and portfolio allocation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Cruciani, Caterina & Gardenal, Gloria & Rigoni, Ugo, 2021. "Trust-formation processes in financial advisors: A structural equation model," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 185-199.
    19. Tabea Bucher-Koenen & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob Alessie & Maarten van Rooij, 2017. "How Financially Literate Are Women? An Overview and New Insights," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 255-283, July.
    20. Chalmers, John & Reuter, Jonathan, 2020. "Is conflicted investment advice better than no advice?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(2), pages 366-387.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial literacy; Financial planning; Household finance; Consumer choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:81:y:2021:i:c:p:385-396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620167 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.