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Financial Literacy and Remittance Behaviour of Skilled and Unskilled Immigrant Groups in Australia

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  • Wasana Karunarathne
  • John Gibson

Abstract

The growing literature on financial literacy suggests people in many countries are poorly prepared for making major financial decisions. One important sub-population rarely examined by financial literacy studies is immigrants, who have specialised financial needs related to remittances. This paper examines variation in financial literacy amongst two actively remitting immigrant groups in Australia – Sri Lankans and Samoans – using surveys designed and supervised by the authors. Paying attention to remittance-related and credit-related literacy, large gaps in the level of financial literacy of the two groups are shown, which are due especially to differences in educational attainment. The wide variation in the transactions costs of various remittance channels available to these two groups suggest that many immigrants could save several hundred dollars per year if improved financial literacy helped to produce more efficient remittance choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Wasana Karunarathne & John Gibson, 2013. "Financial Literacy and Remittance Behaviour of Skilled and Unskilled Immigrant Groups in Australia," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1170, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:1170
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    Cited by:

    1. Anwar, Sajid & Cooray, Arusha, 2015. "Financial flows and per capita income in developing countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 304-314.
    2. Karunarathne, Wasana & Gibson, John, 2014. "Financial literacy and remittance behavior of skilled and unskilled immigrant groups in Australia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 54-62.
    3. Tracey West & Elizabeth Mitchell, 2022. "Australian women with good financial knowledge fare better in divorce," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 203-224, May.
    4. Samuel Nocito & Alessandra Venturini, 2022. "Does Cooperation among Institutions Foster Migrants Inclusion? Evidence from a Case-Study on Financial Literacy in Italy," Working Papers 10/22, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    5. 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.
    6. Sultana Begum Abida Mazumder, 2021. "Determinants of Remittances: A Study in Cachar District of Assam," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(2), pages 474-484, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Amjad Khan Suri & Sonal Purohit, 2017. "An Analysis of Personal Financial Literacy among Expatriates in the United Arab Emirates," Contemporary Review of the Middle East, , vol. 4(3), pages 278-296, September.
    9. Nonna Kushnirovich, 2016. "Immigrant investors in financial markets: modes of financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 992-1006, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial literacy; Immigrants; Remittances; Transaction Costs; Information; Australia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances

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