Adults' Financial Literacy and Households' Financial Assets: The Role of Banks Information Policies

41 Pages Posted: 6 Nov 2014

See all articles by Margherita Fort

Margherita Fort

University of Bologna; Ifo Institute, CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute), Ifo Institute; IZA

Francesco Manaresi

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

Serena Trucchi

University of Bologna; Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies (CeRP)

Date Written: October 24, 2014

Abstract

We investigate the role of banks information policies in fostering the accumulation of financial knowledge. In Italy, banks belonging to the PattiChiari Consortium implement policies aimed at increasing transparency and procedural simplification, without offering services at lower cost with respect to other banks. We exploit this feature of the Italian banking system and show that these policies promote financial literacy. The increase in financial knowledge attributable to banks information policies significantly affects household financial assets. We use these policies as instruments to estimate the effect of financial literacy on financial assets, showing that it is significantly underestimated by OLS correlation.

Keywords: banks information policies, financial assets, financial literacy, instrumental variables

JEL Classification: D140, G110

Suggested Citation

Fort, Margherita and Manaresi, Francesco and Trucchi, Serena, Adults' Financial Literacy and Households' Financial Assets: The Role of Banks Information Policies (October 24, 2014). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5047, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2519460 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2519460

Margherita Fort (Contact Author)

University of Bologna ( email )

Piazza Scaravilli 2
Bologna, 40100
Italy

Ifo Institute, CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute), Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich
Germany

IZA ( email )

Francesco Manaresi

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) ( email )

2 rue Andre Pascal
Paris Cedex 16, 75775
France

Serena Trucchi

University of Bologna ( email )

Piazza Scaravilli 2
Bologna, 40100
Italy

Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies (CeRP) ( email )

Via Real Collegio, 30
Moncalieri, Turin 10024
Italy

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