IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v25y2021i2p978-993.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the financial literacy, indebtedness, and wealth of Colombian households

Author

Listed:
  • José J. Cao‐Alvira
  • Amalia Novoa‐Hoyos
  • Alexander Núñez‐Torres

Abstract

In this paper we attempt to find existing linkages of financial literacy with indebtedness and wealth accumulation of households in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. We analyze an econometric model where we regress a household’s debt usage, cost of debt servicing, and wealth indicators against its financial literacy. Financial literacy is assessed according to the financial numeracy and money management skills of the head of households. Numeracy skills are found to have a positive correlation with the decision to use debt and have a mortgage and with the total number of lending sources, debt‐to‐income, and net worth. Money management skills decrease the household’s likelihood of using all of the debt types considered in the analysis and increase with net worth. We also uncover important debt and wealth accumulation conducts closely tied to the city’s economic stratification and the gender of the head of household. A number of public policy implications are derived from the results of the analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • José J. Cao‐Alvira & Amalia Novoa‐Hoyos & Alexander Núñez‐Torres, 2021. "On the financial literacy, indebtedness, and wealth of Colombian households," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 978-993, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:2:p:978-993
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.12739
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12739
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.12739?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. Christelis, Dimitris & Jappelli, Tullio & Padula, Mario, 2010. "Cognitive abilities and portfolio choice," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 18-38, January.
    2. Melanie Lührmann & Marta Serra-Garcia & Joachim Winter, 2018. "The Impact of Financial Education on Adolescents' Intertemporal Choices," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 309-332, August.
    3. Tabea Bucher-Koenen & Michael Ziegelmeyer, 2014. "Once Burned, Twice Shy? Financial Literacy and Wealth Losses during the Financial Crisis," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2215-2246.
    4. 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.
    5. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2008. "Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 413-417, May.
    6. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Andrew Metrick, 2009. "Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2515-2534, December.
    7. Atkinson, Adele & Messy, Flore-Anne, 2011. "Assessing financial literacy in 12 countries: an OECD/INFE international pilot exercise," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 657-665, October.
    8. Bruhn, Miriam & Lara Ibarra, Gabriel & McKenzie, David, 2014. "The minimal impact of a large-scale financial education program in Mexico City," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 184-189.
    9. Ravi Dhar & Ning Zhu, 2006. "Up Close and Personal: Investor Sophistication and the Disposition Effect," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(5), pages 726-740, May.
    10. Nancy Lozano-Gracia & Luc Anselin, 2012. "Is the price right?: Assessing estimates of cadastral values for Bogotá, Colombia," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(4), pages 495-508, November.
    11. Liu, Chia & Esteve, Albert & Treviño, Rocío, 2017. "Female-Headed Households and Living Conditions in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 311-328.
    12. Gathergood, John & Weber, Jörg, 2017. "Financial literacy, present bias and alternative mortgage products," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 58-83.
    13. Justine S. Hastings & Brigitte C. Madrian & William L. Skimmyhorn, 2013. "Financial Literacy, Financial Education, and Economic Outcomes," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 347-373, May.
    14. Mitchell, Olivia S. & Utkus, Stephen P. (ed.), 2004. "Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199273393.
    15. Laurent E. Calvet & John Y. Campbell & Paolo Sodini, 2009. "Measuring the Financial Sophistication of Households," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 393-398, May.
    16. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    17. Disney, Richard & Gathergood, John, 2013. "Financial literacy and consumer credit portfolios," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2246-2254.
    18. 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.
    19. Lea, Stephen E. G. & Webley, Paul & Walker, Catherine M., 1995. "Psychological factors in consumer debt: Money management, economic socialization, and credit use," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 681-701, December.
    20. Adele Atkinson & Flore-Anne Messy, 2011. "Assessing financial literacy in 12 countries: an OECD Pilot Exercise," CeRP Working Papers 115, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    21. Cao-Alvira, José J. & Deidda, Luca G., 2020. "Development of bank microcredit," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    22. Sumit Agarwal & Gene Amromin & Itzhak Ben-David & Souphala Chomsisengphet & Douglas D. Evanoff, 2010. "Learning to Cope: Voluntary Financial Education and Loan Performance during a Housing Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 495-500, May.
    23. Jere R. Behrman & Olivia S. Mitchell & Cindy K. Soo & David Bravo, 2012. "How Financial Literacy Affects Household Wealth Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 300-304, May.
    24. Klapper, Leora & Panos, Georgios A., 2011. "Financial literacy and retirement planning: the Russian case," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 599-618, October.
    25. Trujillo, Carlos A. & Barrios, Andrés & Camacho, Sonia M. & Rosa, José Antonio, 2010. "Low socioeconomic class and consumer complexity expectations for new product technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 538-547, June.
    26. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian & Andrew Metrick, 2009. "Reinforcement Learning and Savings Behavior," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2515-2534, December.
    27. Annamarie Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2005. "Financial Literacy and Planning: Implications for Retirement Wellbeing," Working Papers wp108, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    28. repec:ecj:econjl:v:122:y:2012:i::p:449-478 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Leora Klapper & Georgios A. Panos, 2011. "Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in View of a Growing Youth Demographic: The Russian Case," CeRP Working Papers 114, Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies, Turin (Italy).
    30. Mahnaz Mahdavi & Nicholas J. Horton, 2014. "Financial Knowledge among Educated Women: Room for Improvement," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 403-417, June.
    31. Adnan Balloch & Anamaria Nicolae & Dennis Philip, 2015. "Stock Market Literacy, Trust, and Participation," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(5), pages 1925-1963.
    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. Silvia Mariela Méndez Prado & Marlon José Zambrano Franco & Susana Gabriela Zambrano Zapata & Katherine Malena Chiluiza García & Patricia Everaert & Martin Valcke, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Financial Literacy Research in Latin America and The Caribbean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-43, March.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    4. Francisco Gomes & Michael Haliassos & Tarun Ramadorai, 2021. "Household Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 919-1000, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Shen, Chung-Hua & Lin, Shih-Jie & Tang, De-Piao & Hsiao, Yu-Jen, 2016. "The relationship between financial disputes and financial literacy," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 46-65.
    7. Davoli, Maddalena & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2021. "Preferences, Financial Literacy, and Economic Development," IZA Discussion Papers 14759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Agarwal, Sumit & Amromin, Gene & Ben-David, Itzhak & Chomsisengphet, Souphala & Evanoff, Douglas D., 2015. "Financial literacy and financial planning: Evidence from India," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 4-21.
    9. Albert Hizgilov & Jacques Silber, 2020. "On Multidimensional Approaches to Financial Literacy Measurement," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 787-830, April.
    10. Tabea Bucher-Koenen & Annamaria Lusardi & Rob Alessie & Maarten van Rooij, 2017. "How Financially Literate Are Women? An Overview and New Insights," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 255-283, July.
    11. Zuzana Brokesova & Andrej Cupak & Gueorgui Kolev, 2017. "Financial literacy and voluntary savings for retirement in Slovakia," Working and Discussion Papers WP 10/2017, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    12. Davoli, Maddalena & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2020. "Culture and adult financial literacy: Evidence from the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Lin, Chaonan & Hsiao, Yu-Jen & Yeh, Cheng-Yung, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advisors, and information sources on demand for life insurance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 218-237.
    14. Tim Kaiser & Lukas Menkhoff, 2017. "Does Financial Education Impact Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior, and If So, When?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(3), pages 611-630.
    15. Grohmann, Antonia & Hübler, Olaf & Kouwenberg, Roy & Menkhoff, Lukas, 2021. "Financial literacy: Thai middle-class women do not lag behind," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    16. Tim Kaiser & Annamaria Lusardi, 2024. "Financial Literacy and Financial Education: An Overview," NBER Working Papers 32355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Marie-Hélène BROIHANNE, 2021. "Testing the gender gap in subjective financial literacy of spouses," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2021-08, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    20. van Rooij, Maarten C.J. & Lusardi, Annamaria & Alessie, Rob J.M., 2011. "Financial literacy and retirement planning in the Netherlands," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 593-608, August.

    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:rdevec:v:25:y:2021:i:2:p:978-993. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    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.