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Nudging financial and demographic literacy: experimental evidence from an Italian Trade Union Pension Fund

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  • Francesco C. Billari
  • Carlo A. Favero
  • Francesco Saita

Abstract

In this article, we present and test experimentally a low-cost, Internet-based, financial literacy program that we designed for implementation with the largest industrial pension fund in Italy. The program, Finlife (Financial Education and Planning for a Long Life) included 1) an instructional video and materials on financial, and demographic, literacy, provided online; 2) an experimental design that explicitly allows to evaluate the impact of the online content on financial and demographic literacy, as well as on short-term behavioral changes; 3) a follow-up that allows to assess the stability of some of the experimental outcomes. Finlife was designed to be a low-cost and scalable approach to increase financial and demographic literacy, consistently with a ‘nudge’ philosophy. Our findings show that Finlife delivered a substantially and statistically significant increase in financial and demographic literacy, as well as a push towards seeking more information on financial markets and choices related to financial planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco C. Billari & Carlo A. Favero & Francesco Saita, 2017. "Nudging financial and demographic literacy: experimental evidence from an Italian Trade Union Pension Fund," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1767, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp1767
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. García, Jesús María & Vila, José, 2020. "Financial literacy is not enough: The role of nudging toward adequate long-term saving behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 472-477.
    2. Angelici, Marta & Del Boca, Daniela & Oggero, Noemi & Profeta, Paola & Rossi, Maria Cristina & Villosio, Claudia, 2022. "Pension information and women’s awareness," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Stefania Basiglio & Noemi Oggero, 2020. "The Effects of Pension Information on Individuals’ Economic Outcomes: A Survey," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial literacy; demographic literacy; field experiment; Finlife;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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