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The Assessment of Financial Literacy: New Evidence from Europe

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  • Gianni Nicolini

    (Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy)

  • Marlene Haupt

    (Faculty of Social Work, Health and Care, Hochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten, 88250 Weingarten, Germany)

Abstract

The hypothesis that people with more financial literacy make better financial decisions and show positive financial behaviors is crucial for more than one stakeholder. A weak connection between financial literacy and financial behaviors jeopardizes the opportunity to invest in financial education and to develop a consumer protection framework based on the chance to develop aware and responsible financial consumers. This study uses data from different countries (Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, the UK), using surveys devised and fielded specifically to measure financial literacy and in order to assess if the availability of a broad set of items on financial literacy allows to develop new measures of financial literacy to better understand the relationship between financial literacy and financial behaviors. The well-established Lusardi–Mitchell questions are compared with measures that differ in terms of number of items (the “50-items” index), range of topics (the “5-specific” index), or selection process of the items (the “unbiased” index). Results support the hypothesis that the Lusardi–Mitchell questions remain a good measure in a first-step analysis, but a deeper understanding of the connection between financial literacy and financial behaviors benefits from the measures proposed in the study, that should be considered as additional assessment tools in financial literacy research.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianni Nicolini & Marlene Haupt, 2019. "The Assessment of Financial Literacy: New Evidence from Europe," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:7:y:2019:i:3:p:54-:d:268768
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    6. Pattaphol Yuktadatta & Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Yoshihiko Kadoya, 2021. "Financial Literacy and Exercise Behavior in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Ali, Muhammad Arsalan & Rehman, Khalil ur & Maqbool, Adnan & Hussain, Shahid, 2021. "The Impact of Behavioral Finance Factors and the Mediating Effect of Investment Behavior on Individual’s Financial Well-being: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, CSRC Publishing, Center for Sustainability Research and Consultancy Pakistan, vol. 7(2), pages 325-336, June.
    8. 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.
    9. Pongpat Putthinun & Somtip Watanapongvanich & Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Yoshihiko Kadoya, 2021. "Financial Literacy and Alcohol Drinking Behavior: Evidence from Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-13, August.
    10. Mirela Panait & Irina Radulescu & Alina Brezoi, 2020. "Financial Markets – Under the Sign of CSR. Some Evidences Regarding Financial Education," Book chapters-LUMEN Proceedings, in: Adriana Grigorescu & Valentin Radu (ed.), 1st International Conference Global Ethics - Key of Sustainability (GEKoS), edition 1, volume 11, chapter 11, pages 96-106, Editura Lumen.

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