Financial knowledge, attitude and behavior: evidence from the Austrian Survey of Financial Literacy

Pirmin Fessler, Maria Silgoner and Rosa Weber ()
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Rosa Weber: Stockholm University

Empirica, 2020, vol. 47, issue 4, No 9, 929-947

Abstract: Abstract This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the links between financial knowledge, attitude and behavior, based on the Austrian contribution to the OECD/INFE survey on financial literacy. Our analysis gives evidence of causal effects of financial knowledge on financial behavior, using a new instrument based on respondents’ newspaper reading habits. We confirm that the selection bias is likely negative, i.e. we would underestimate the causal effect of knowledge on behavior in a classical regression setting. Furthermore, we provide mediation analyses, showing that about 13% of the causal effect of knowledge on behavior is mediated through financial attitude.

Keywords: Financial literacy; Knowledge; Financial behavior; Survey data; Instrumental variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 I2 I29 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10663-019-09465-2

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