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Financial education on secondary school students: the randomized experiment revisited

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  • Leonardo Becchetti

    (Department of Economics, Universitˆ Tor Vergata)

  • Fabio Pisani

    (Department of Economics, Universitˆ Tor Vergata)

Abstract

We analyze the effects of financial education on a large sample of secondary school students with a randomized experiment performed in the Center (Rome) and North (Milan and Genova) of Italy. Our main findings document that the course increases significantly financial literacy at both student and class level but the effect is different in different urban environments. More specifically, we document that the overall (questionnaire plus course) learning effect is significantly higher in the North than in Rome. We finally observe that high grades at final middle school exams, willingness to attend Economics at University and household borrowing status are three factors which significantly and positively affect financial education.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Becchetti & Fabio Pisani, 2011. "Financial education on secondary school students: the randomized experiment revisited," Econometica Working Papers wp34, Econometica.
    • Handle: RePEc:ent:wpaper:wp34
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    10. Becchetti, Leonardo & Caiazza, Stefano & Coviello, Decio, 2011. "Financial education and investment attitudes in high schools," AICCON Working Papers 92-2011, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruhn, Miriam & de Souza Leao, Luciana & Legovini, Arianna & Marchetti, Rogelio & Zia, Bilal, 2013. "The impact of high school financial education : experimental evidence from Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6723, The World Bank.
    2. Margaret Miller & Julia Reichelstein & Christian Salas & Bilal Zia, 2015. "Can You Help Someone Become Financially Capable? A Meta-Analysis of the Literature," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 220-246.
    3. Berry, James & Karlan, Dean & Pradhan, Menno, 2018. "The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 71-89.
    4. Alex Yue Feng Zhu, 2020. "Impact of Financial Education on Adolescent Financial Capability: Evidence from a Pilot Randomized Experiment," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1371-1386, August.
    5. Brugiavini, Agar & Cavapozzi, Danilo & Padula, Mario & Pettinicchi, Yuri, 2015. "Financial education, literacy and investment attitudes," SAFE Working Paper Series 86, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, revised 2015.
    6. Iterbeke, Kaat & De Witte, Kristof & Declercq, Koen & Schelfhout, Wouter, 2020. "The effect of ability matching and differentiated instruction in financial literacy education. Evidence from two randomised control trials," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Entorf, Horst & Hou, Jia, 2018. "Financial Education for the Disadvantaged? A Review," IZA Discussion Papers 11515, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Lührmann, Melanie & Serra-Garcia, Marta & Winter, Joachim, 2015. "Teaching teenagers in finance: Does it work?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 160-174.
    9. Frisancho, Veronica, 2020. "The impact of financial education for youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Rodriguez-Raga, Santiago & Martinez-Camelo, Natalia, 2022. "Game, guide or website for financial education improvement: Evidence from an experiment in Colombian schools," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    11. Winter, Joachim & Lührmann, Melanie & Serra Garcia, Marta, 2013. "The effects of financial literacy training: Evidence from a field experiment in German high schools," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79744, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    Keywords

    financial education; financial literacy; demand for money balances; randomized experiment;
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