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The Stability and Predictive Power of Financial Literacy: Evidence from Longitudinal Data

Author

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  • Marco Angrisani
  • Jeremy Burke
  • Annamaria Lusardi
  • Gary Mottola

Abstract

We administered the FINRA Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study questionnaire to members of the RAND American Life Panel (ALP) in 2012 and 2018. Using this unique, longitudinal data set, we investigate the evolution of financial literacy over time and shed light on the causal effect of financial knowledge on financial outcomes. Over a six-year observation period, financial literacy appears to be rather stable, with a slight tendency to decline at older ages. Moreover and importantly, financial literacy has significant predictive power for future financial outcomes, even after controlling for baseline outcomes and a wide set of demographics and individual characteristics that influence financial decision making. This estimated relationship is significantly stronger for older individuals, for women, and for those with lower income than for their counterparts in the study. Altogether, our findings suggest that differences in the stock of financial knowledge may lead to increasing inequality over the life course.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Angrisani & Jeremy Burke & Annamaria Lusardi & Gary Mottola, 2020. "The Stability and Predictive Power of Financial Literacy: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," NBER Working Papers 28125, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28125
    Note: AG
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    Cited by:

    1. Swensen, Isaac D. & Urban, Carly, 2023. "Literature Review on the Effect of Physical and Mental Health on Financial Well-Being," IZA Policy Papers 198, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kai Ruggeri & Amma Panin & Milica Vdovic & Bojana Većkalov & Nazeer Abdul-Salaam & Jascha Achterberg & Carla Akil & Jolly Amatya & Kanchan Amatya & Thomas Lind Andersen & Sibele D. Aquino & Arjoon Aru, 2022. "The globalizability of temporal discounting," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1386-1397, October.
    3. Tabea Bucher-Koenen & Rob Alessie & Annamaria Lusardi & Maarten van Rooij, 2021. "Fearless Woman. Financial Literacy and Stock Market Participation," Working Papers 708, DNB.
    4. Carolyn St Aubyn, 2022. "Consumer choices with wealth preferences and separation of consumption and payment," BCAM Working Papers 2201, Birkbeck Centre for Applied Macroeconomics.
    5. Blanco, Luisa R. & Hernandez, Isaias & Thames, April D. & Chen, Lucia & Serido, Joyce, 2023. "Mind your money: A community-based digital intervention for improving financial capability among Hispanics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 629-643.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy

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