IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v17y2024i9p420-d1482776.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Student Loan Debt on Emergency Savings and the Moderating Role of Financial Knowledge: Evidence from the U.S. Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Korankye

    (Personal and Family Financial Planning Program, Norton School of Human Ecology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA)

  • Blain Pearson

    (Department of Finance and Economics, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29526, USA)

  • Peter Agyemang-Mintah

    (College of Business, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 144534, United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

This study examines data from the U.S. 2018 and 2019 Survey of Household Economics and Decision making (SHED) to understand the association between student loan debt and emergency-saving decisions, including the moderating role of financial knowledge. Controlling self-selection bias through a propensity score and coarsened exact matching approach, the findings reveal that individuals with student loan debt are less likely to save for financial emergencies. The findings also show that financial knowledge is positively associated with a higher likelihood of having emergency savings. Furthermore, the results from the moderating analysis indicate a statistically significant interaction effect. Based on the empirical results and the corresponding interaction plots, the findings suggest that targeted financial education may lead to improved financial outcomes for student loan borrowers, rather than assuming that such education occurred prior to a loan application.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Korankye & Blain Pearson & Peter Agyemang-Mintah, 2024. "The Effect of Student Loan Debt on Emergency Savings and the Moderating Role of Financial Knowledge: Evidence from the U.S. Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:17:y:2024:i:9:p:420-:d:1482776
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/17/9/420/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/17/9/420/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2016. "Matching on the Estimated Propensity Score," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 781-807, March.
    3. Iacus, Stefano & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2009. "cem: Software for Coarsened Exact Matching," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i09).
    4. Thomas Korankye & Charlene M. Kalenkoski, 2021. "The Effect of Households’ Student Debt on Life Satisfaction," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 757-772, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Patryk Babiarz & Cliff Robb, 2014. "Financial Literacy and Emergency Saving," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 40-50, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Rui Yao & Yilan Xu, 2015. "Chinese Urban Households’ Security Market Participation: Does Investment Knowledge and Having a Long-Term Plan Help?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 328-339, September.
    2. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp1770 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Cong Feng & Scott Fay & Kexin Xiang, 2021. "When do we need higher educated salespeople? The role of work experience," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1391-1429, July.
    4. Bratti, Massimiliano & Felice, Giulia, 2018. "Product innovation by supplying domestic and foreign markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 126-178.
    5. Seigner, Benedikt David Christian & McKenny, Aaron F. & Reetz, David K., 2024. "Old but gold? Examining the effect of age bias in reward-based crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3).
    6. Liddle, Brantley & Loi, Tian Sheng Allan & Owen, Anthony D. & Tao, Jacqueline, 2020. "Evaluating consumption and cost savings from new air-conditioner purchases: The case of Singapore," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Prof. Dr. Adem KALCA & Resc. Assist. Atakan DURMAZ, 2012. "Diaspora As The Instrument Of Humane Capital," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(5), pages 94-104, October.
    8. Dimitris Pavlopoulos & Ruud Muffels & Jeroen K. Vermunt, 2009. "Training and Low‐pay Mobility: The Case of the UK and the Netherlands," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 23(s1), pages 37-59, March.
    9. Lucas A. Mariani & Jose Renato Haas Ornelas & Bernardo Ricca, 2023. "Banks’ Physical Footprint and Financial Technology Adoption," Working Papers Series 576, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    10. Moretti, Luca & Mayerl, Martin & Mühlemann, Samuel & Schlögl, Peter & Wolter, Stefan C., 2017. "So Similar and Yet So Different: A Comparative Analysis of a Firm's Cost and Benefits of Apprenticeship Training in Austria and Switzerland," IZA Discussion Papers 11081, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Kawai, Eizo, 2001. "Re-examination of wage, employment, and hours adjustments: what is crucial for differences in the adjustments?," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 483-497, December.
    12. Jones, Cheryl Bland & Gates, Michael, 2004. "Gender-based wage differentials in a predominantly female profession: observations from nursing," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 615-631, December.
    13. Jeremy T. Fox, 2010. "Estimating the Employer Switching Costs and Wage Responses of Forward-Looking Engineers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 357-412, April.
    14. Roxana Elena Manea, 2021. "School Feeding Programmes, Education and Food Security in Rural Malawi," CIES Research Paper series 63-2020, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    15. Domenico Delli Gatti & Jakob Grazzini & Domenico Massaro & Fabrizio Panebianco, 2022. "The Impact of Growth on the Transmission of Patience," CESifo Working Paper Series 9829, CESifo.
    16. Tom Coupé & Valérie Smeets & Frédéric Warzynski, 2006. "Incentives, Sorting and Productivity along the Career: Evidence from a Sample of Top Economists," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 137-167, April.
    17. Fischer, Barbara & Telser, Harry & Zweifel, Peter & von Wyl, Viktor & Beck, Konstantin & Weber, Andreas, 2023. "The value of a QALY towards the end of life and its determinants: Experimental evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    18. Irene Bertschek & Joern Block & Alexander S. Kritikos & Caroline Stiel, 2024. "German financial state aid during Covid-19 pandemic: Higher impact among digitalized self-employed," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1-2), pages 76-97, January.
    19. Giorgio Vittadini & Giuseppe Folloni & Caterina Sturaro, 2022. "The Development of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills in Students in the Autonomous Province of Trento," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    20. Christian Grund & Dirk Sliwka, 2007. "Reference-Dependent Preferences and the Impact of Wage Increases on Job Satisfaction: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 163(2), pages 313-335, June.
    21. Maïlys Korber, 2019. "Does Vocational Education Give a Labour Market Advantage over the Whole Career? A Comparison of the United Kingdom and Switzerland," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 202-223.

    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:gam:jjrfmx:v:17:y:2024:i:9:p:420-:d:1482776. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.