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The value of financial literacy and financial education for workers

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  • Pierre-Carl Michaud

    (HEC Montréal, Canada, NBER, USA, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

The level of financial literacy in developed countries is low and contributes to growing wealth inequality. Benefits from increasing the level of financial literacy include more effective saving for retirement and better debt management. However, there are significant costs in terms of time and money of acquiring financial literacy, which imply that the net value of acquiring financial literacy is heterogeneous in the population. This potentially makes designing effective interventions difficult.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2017. "The value of financial literacy and financial education for workers," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 400-400, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2017:n:400
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Sendhil Mullainathan & Markus Noeth & Antoinette Schoar, 2012. "The Market for Financial Advice: An Audit Study," NBER Working Papers 17929, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Brigitte C. Madrian, 2014. "Applying Insights from Behavioral Economics to Policy Design," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 663-688, August.
    4. Robert Clark & Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2017. "Employee Financial Literacy And Retirement Plan Behavior: A Case Study," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(1), pages 248-259, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. CASTAÑEDA Francisco & ORMAZÁBAL Francisco & CISTERNAS Carla, 2022. "Sociodemographic Determinants Of Financial Literacy Levels," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 17(2), pages 44-61, August.
    2. Andrea Bacchiocchi & Federico Favaretto & Germana Giombini, 2025. "Balancing Interests: Economic Incentives in Financial Education for Households and Banks," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(2), pages 515-545, July.

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