Active Learning Fosters Financial Behavior: Experimental Evidence

Tim Kaiser and Lukas Menkhoff

No 1743, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: We conduct a randomized field experiment to study the effects of two financial education interventions offered to small-scale retailers in Western Uganda. The treatments contrast “active learning” with “traditional lecturing” within standardized lesson-plans. We find that active learning has a positive and economically meaningful impact on savings and investment outcomes, in contrast to insignificant impacts of lecturing. These results are not conditional on prior education or financial literacy. The active learning intervention seems to be superior as it works via three cognitive and non-cognitive mechanisms, i.e. increased financial knowledge, self-control, and financial confidence, while lecturing only affects financial confidence.

Keywords: financial behavior; financial literacy; active learning; lecturing; training method; field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 I21 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 p.
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-edu, nep-exp, nep-fle and nep-knm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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