There is a consolidated empirical literature providing evidence of the fact that financial literacy, human capital, savings and stock market participation are interconnected decisions. However, to the best of our knowledge, a theoretical explanation of such connections is missing. In this paper...

Self-esteem measures confidence in one’s abilities. Prior literature has shown that higher self-esteem can also affect individual financial decision making through an increased willingness to invest in risky assets and motivation to enhance self image through wealth accumulation. However,...

Although accessing finance is key to the foundation of any business, particular concerns have been expressed about the ability of UK women-owned firms to obtain external finance. In this paper we use an econometric approach to explore the effect of perceptions of financial barriers to start-up...

Financial literacy or “what consumers know about finance” has become part of the scientific discussion in recent years. In Germany, as in many other countries, the structure of social security benefits has changed substantially. Using the German SAVE study conducted by the Mannheim Institute...

Consumers in most countries are generally not well informed about pensions. Both general facts about the structure of the pension system and specific data on their own pension entitlements are lacking. Many people, as a result, might have unrealistic expectations of their retirement incomes. But...

This research studies the propensity of individuals to violate implications of expected utility maximization in allocating retirement savings within a compulsory de- �ned contribution retirement plan. The paper develops the implications and describes the construction and administration of a...

This paper explores the existing pattern and the levels of disparity of the functional financial literacy in the Sri Lankan context. The study, mainly using quantitative data, selected the sample representing the three main settlement types: urban, rural and estate sector using multi-stage...

Pension reforms are on the political agenda of many countries. Such reforms imply an increasing responsibility on individuals’ side in building an efficient portfolio for retirement. In this paper we provide a model describing workers’ choices on the allocation of retirement savings in...

We examine experimentally the effect of complexity on individual decision making. We focus on credit choices, as they have been widely criticized for their complexity in recent years. In a first study, we find that complexity in benefits leads to random mistakes, while complexity in costs leads...

Taking advantage of a natural experiment and a rich household-level panel dataset, this paper tests the impact of an agricultural insurance program on household level production, borrowing, and saving. The empirical strategy includes both difference-in-difference and triple difference...