IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v39y2021i3p524-536.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The racial/ethnic gap in financial literacy in the population and by income

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Angrisani
  • Sergio Barrera
  • Luisa R. Blanco
  • Salvador Contreras

Abstract

We investigate the determinants of the racial/ethnic gap in financial literacy in the general population and within income classes, with a focus on childhood family circumstances and neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics. Our model explains 48% and 57% of the observed gap for Blacks and Hispanics, respectively. For both groups, differences in individual characteristics and neighborhood socioeconomic status contribute the most to the explained gap. The White–Minority gap narrows when moving from low‐ to high‐income classes, but the ability of the model to explain it decreases monotonically. Identifying which additional barriers put minorities at a disadvantage is key to improve financial literacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Angrisani & Sergio Barrera & Luisa R. Blanco & Salvador Contreras, 2021. "The racial/ethnic gap in financial literacy in the population and by income," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 524-536, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:39:y:2021:i:3:p:524-536
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12507
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12507?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility II: County-Level Estimates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1163-1228.
    2. Kaiser, Tim & Lusardi, Annamaria & Menkhoff, Lukas & Urban, Carly, 2022. "Financial education affects financial knowledge and downstream behaviors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 255-272.
    3. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    4. Daniel Fernandes & John G. Lynch & Richard G. Netemeyer, 2014. "Financial Literacy, Financial Education, and Downstream Financial Behaviors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(8), pages 1861-1883, August.
    5. Lusardi, Annamaria & Tufano, Peter, 2015. "Debt literacy, financial experiences, and overindebtedness," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 332-368, October.
    6. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    7. Annamarie Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2005. "Financial Literacy and Planning: Implications for Retirement Wellbeing," Working Papers wp108, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    8. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren, 2018. "The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1107-1162.
    9. Jeffrey R. Campbell & Zvi Hercowitz, 2019. "Liquidity Constraints of the Middle Class," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 130-155, August.
    10. Luisa R. Blanco & Marco Angrisani & Emma Aguila & Mei Leng, 2019. "Understanding the Racial/Ethnic Gap in Bank Account Ownership among Older Adults," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 324-354, June.
    11. Maarten C.J. van Rooij & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob J.M. Alessie, 2012. "Financial Literacy, Retirement Planning and Household Wealth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(560), pages 449-478, May.
    12. Goodstein, Ryan M. & Rhine, Sherrie L.W., 2017. "The effects of bank and nonbank provider locations on household use of financial transaction services," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 91-107.
    13. Annamaria Lusardi, 2019. "Financial literacy and the need for financial education: evidence and implications," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-8, December.
    14. Melody Harvey, 2019. "Impact of Financial Education Mandates on Younger Consumers' Use of Alternative Financial Services," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 731-769, September.
    15. Abdullah Al‐Bahrani & Jamie Weathers & Darshak Patel, 2019. "Racial Differences in the Returns to Financial Literacy Education," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 572-599, June.
    16. Alicia S. Modestino & Rachel Sederberg & Liana Tuller, 2019. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Financial Coaching: Evidence from the Boston Youth Credit Building Initiative," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1825-1873, December.
    17. Kyoung Tae Kim & Jonghee Lee, 2018. "Financial literacy and use of payday loans in the United States," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(11), pages 781-784, June.
    18. Mitchell, Olivia S. & Lusardi, Annamaria (ed.), 2011. "Financial Literacy: Implications for Retirement Security and the Financial Marketplace," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199696819.
    19. repec:ecj:econjl:v:122:y:2012:i::p:449-478 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vieira, Kelmara Mendes & Matheis, Taiane Keila & Potrich, Ani Caroline Grigion & Puhle, Mayara de Carvalho & Bressan, Aureliano Angel & Klein, Leander Luiz, 2024. "Financial Freedom Perception Scale (FFPS): Construction and validation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    2. Blanco, Luisa R. & Hernandez, Isaias & Thames, April D. & Chen, Lucia & Serido, Joyce, 2023. "Mind your money: A community-based digital intervention for improving financial capability among Hispanics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 629-643.
    3. Esther Yin-Nei Cho, 2024. "A qualitative investigation of financial decision-making and enabling factors among ethnic minority young adults in Hong Kong," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Vitor Leone & Piers Thompson, 2024. "Financial literacy and advice perceptions among UK higher education students: an ethnicity tale?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 709-781, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerrans, Paul, 2021. "Undergraduate student financial education interventions: Medium term evidence of retention, decay, and confidence in financial literacy," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Vitor Leone & Piers Thompson, 2024. "Financial literacy and advice perceptions among UK higher education students: an ethnicity tale?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 709-781, June.
    3. Sconti, Alessia, 2022. "Digital vs. in-person financial education: What works best for Generation Z?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 300-318.
    4. Elisabeth Sinnewe & Gavin Nicholson, 2023. "Healthy financial habits in young adults: An exploratory study of the relationship between subjective financial literacy, engagement with finances, and financial decision‐making," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 564-592, January.
    5. S. Ananda & Raghavendra Prasanna Kumar & Tamanna Dalwai, 2024. "Impact of financial literacy on savings behavior: the moderation role of risk aversion and financial confidence," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(3), pages 843-854, September.
    6. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    7. Sunwoo T. Lee & Kyoung Tae Kim, 2022. "A Decomposition Analysis of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Financial Knowledge and Overconfidence," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 815-831, December.
    8. Lusardi, Annamaria & Kaiser, Tim, 2024. "Financial literacy and financial education: An overview," CEPR Discussion Papers 19185, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Anderson, Anders & Baker, Forest & Robinson, David T., 2017. "Precautionary savings, retirement planning and misperceptions of financial literacy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 383-398.
    10. French, Declan & McKillop, Donal, 2016. "Financial literacy and over-indebtedness in low-income households," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-11.
    11. Galariotis, Emilios & Monne, Jerome, 2023. "Basic debt literacy and debt behavior," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    12. Zhou, Yang & Yang, Manfang & Gan, Xu, 2023. "Education and financial literacy: Evidence from compulsory schooling law in China," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 335-346.
    13. Bannier, Christina E. & Schwarz, Milena, 2018. "Gender- and education-related effects of financial literacy and confidence on financial wealth," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 66-86.
    14. Raquel Fonseca & Simon Lord, 2020. "Canadian Gender Gap in Financial Literacy: Confidence Matters," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 235(4), pages 153-182, December.
    15. Blanco, Luisa R. & Hernandez, Isaias & Thames, April D. & Chen, Lucia & Serido, Joyce, 2023. "Mind your money: A community-based digital intervention for improving financial capability among Hispanics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 629-643.
    16. Cordero, José Manuel & Gil, María & Pedraja Chaparro, Francisco, 2016. "Exploring the effect of financial literacy courses on student achievement: a cross-country approach using PISA 2012 data," MPRA Paper 75474, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Noviarini, Jelita & Coleman, Andrew & Roberts, Helen & Whiting, Rosalind H., 2021. "Financial literacy, debt, risk tolerance and retirement preparedness: Evidence from New Zealand," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. Paulo Pereira Silva & Victor Mendes, 2023. "Education and financial mistakes: The case of avoidable trading fees in stock markets," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 22(2), pages 173-202, May.
    19. Hanson, Thomas A. & Olson, Peter M., 2018. "Financial literacy and family communication patterns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 64-71.
    20. M. M. Naeser Seldal & Ellen K. Nyhus, 2022. "Financial Vulnerability, Financial Literacy, and the Use of Digital Payment Technologies," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 281-306, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:39:y:2021:i:3:p:524-536. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.