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Financial literacy among Mexican high school teenagers

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  • Arceo-Gómez, Eva O.
  • Villagómez, F. Alejandro

Abstract

Financial literacy has become an increasingly important ability in today’s complex world. Young people are among the least financially literate demographic groups. In this paper we present the results of a financial literacy survey conducted among high school students in Mexico City, the first effort to measure financial literacy among teenagers in Mexico. The survey is based upon the instruments developed by OECD and Lusardi and Mitchell’s approach. Our results show low levels of financial literacy: 60% of the students surveyed understood the concept of inflation, 34.1% correctly answered the question about risk diversification, and only 31.7% correctly answered the question about compound interest. The OECD questions showed that less than 1 in 5 students understands basic financial concepts, around 57% get high scores on financial behavior, and about 70% have positive financial attitudes. We did not find generalized gender differences, though women score a bit higher on the OECD measure mostly due to a better financial behavior. We also did not find differences between private and public schools, or by household income.

Suggested Citation

  • Arceo-Gómez, Eva O. & Villagómez, F. Alejandro, 2017. "Financial literacy among Mexican high school teenagers," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ireced:v:24:y:2017:i:c:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iree.2016.10.001
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    Cited by:

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    2. Adam Ndou & Sam Ngwenya, 2021. "An Analysis of Personal Financial Literacy among Adults in Vhembe District, A Rural Municipality in South Africa," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 9(1), pages 55-66.
    3. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:533-554 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Amagir, Aisa & Groot, Wim & van den Brink, Henriëtte Maassen & Wilschut, Arie, 2020. "Financial literacy of high school students in the Netherlands: knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Marco Aschenwald & Armando Holzknecht & Michael Kirchler & Michael Razen, 2023. "Determinants of Financial Literacy and Behavioral Bias among Adolescents," Working Papers 2023-01, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial literacy; Financial behavior; Financial attitudes; Savings; Teenagers; Mexico;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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