Economic literacy: an international comparison
- Many studies show that most people are not financially literate and are unfamiliar with even the most basic economic concepts. However, the evidence on the determinants of economic literacy is scant. This paper uses international panel data on 55 countries from 1995 to 2008, merging indicators of economic literacy with a large set of macroeconomic and institutional variables. Results show that there is substantial heterogeneity of financial and economic competence across countries, and that human capital indicators (PISA test scores and college attendance) are positively correlated with economic literacy. Furthermore, inhabitants of countries with more generous social security systems are generally less literate, lending support to the hypothesis that the incentives to acquire economic literacy are related to the amount of resources available for private accumulation. JEL Classification: E2, D8, G1
| Author: | Tullio JappelliORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-78683 |
| Parent Title (German): | Center for Financial Studies (Frankfurt am Main): CFS working paper series ; No. 2010,16 |
| Series (Serial Number): | CFS working paper series (2010, 16) |
| Document Type: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Year of Completion: | 2010 |
| Year of first Publication: | 2010 |
| Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
| Release Date: | 2010/08/20 |
| Tag: | Economic Literacy; Human Capital; Social Security |
| Issue: | July 28, 2010 |
| HeBIS-PPN: | 226445429 |
| Institutes: | Wissenschaftliche Zentren und koordinierte Programme / Center for Financial Studies (CFS) |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft |
| Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
| Licence (German): |  Deutsches Urheberrecht |
