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Financial literacy and self-control in FinTech: Evidence from a field experiment on online consumer borrowing

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  • Bu, Di
  • Hanspal, Tobin
  • Liao, Yin
  • Liu, Yong

Abstract

We report the results of a longitudinal intervention with students across five universities in China designed to reduce online consumer debt. Our research design allocates individuals to either a financial literacy treatment, a self-control training program, or a zero-touch control group. Financial education interventions improve test scores on general financial literacy but only marginally affect future online borrowing. Our self-control treatment features detailed tracking of spending and borrowing activity with a third-party app and introspection about individuals' consumption with a counselor. These sessions reduce future online borrowing, delinquency charges, and borrowing for entertainment reasons - and are driven by the male subjects in the sample. Our results suggest that self-regulation can affect financial behavior in e-commerce platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Bu, Di & Hanspal, Tobin & Liao, Yin & Liu, Yong, 2020. "Financial literacy and self-control in FinTech: Evidence from a field experiment on online consumer borrowing," SAFE Working Paper Series 273, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:safewp:273
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3469571
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial literacy; online borrowing; Consumer credit; Self-control; FinTech; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D18 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Protection
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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