Accounting in the fifth grade—is it too early?

This paper describes a project that teaches principles of accounting and Microsoft Excel to gifted and talented fifth graders. The course material was adapted from a college course usually taught at the sophomore level. Students learned about business transactions, financial statements, and business decision-making. Score differences on pretests and posttests showed learning at a statistically significant level (P<0.01). Fifth graders’ posttest scores were not statistically different (P>0.05) from college sophomores who took the same test. The importance of this project is that elementary age students can form very favorable impressions of accounting, which may be beneficial to the students and to the accounting profession. Almost all of the fifth grade students desired to learn more about accounting. This project is also an excellent opportunity to involve Beta Alpha Psi in a rewarding service experience.     

Financial literacy and consumer credit portfolios

We use survey data from a sample of UK households to analyse the relationship between financial literacy and consumer credit portfolios. We show that individuals who borrow on consumer credit exhibit worse financial literacy than those who do not. Borrowers with poor financial literacy hold higher shares of high cost credit (such as home collected credit, mail order catalogue debt and payday loans) than those with higher literacy. We also show that individuals with poor financial literacy are more likely to lack confidence when interpreting credit terms, and to exhibit confusion over financial concepts. They are also less likely to engage in behaviour which might help them to improve their awareness of the credit market.     

Financial literacy and over-indebtedness in low-income households

Financial literacy can explain a significant proportion of wealth inequality. Among the key components of financial literacy are numeracy and money management skills. Our study examines the relative importance of these components in the determination of consumer debt and household net worth among credit union members in socially disadvantaged areas. The main finding from our analysis is that money management skills are important determinants of financial outcomes but that numeracy has almost no role to play. This result adds to a recent US-based behavioural finance literature on the role of attention and planning in consumer finance. Findings are found to be robust when the sample is reduced to only those who have a clear role in household financial decision-making and also when controlling for potential endogeneity. Our findings have policy implications in the UK and elsewhere as credit unions across the world are important players in national financial literacy strategies.     

Basic debt literacy and debt behavior

Using unique survey data from 1001 individuals representative of the French population, we document that less than half of the sample (47%) can provide correct answers to two basic questions addressing the functioning of debt interests. This proportion is higher among credit users, but the improvement emerges mainly from mortgagors (55%) and much less from consumer credit users (51%). Furthermore, among consumer credit users, the portion of respondents giving at least one erroneous answer (i.e. neither correct nor “don't know”) is above one third and significantly higher than in the rest of the population (35% vs. 30%). Next, with regressions, controlling for a wide array of socio-demographic variables and potential confounding factors like present-biased preferences or saving-oriented literacy, we show that incorrect answers to debt literacy questions predict a greater propensity to use consumer debt and to use it in a more expensive way (i.e. choosing lower settlements). Lastly, we find that respondents who answer debt literacy questions incorrectly are not more likely to report intention to take financial education training or to seek financial advice from a bank advisor, even when such respondents also present a high propensity to use debt or to use it in an expensive way.     

高校债务危机的反思与治理

高校的债务危机已经严重困扰了普通高等学校进一步发展和办学水平的提高,同时影响教师的心理。大规模扩招、高等教育投融资渠道的单一、高校财务管理缺乏社会问责是高校债务危机产生的直接原因。目前高校化解债务的方法只是＂头痛医头,脚痛医脚＂,若要进行长效治理,需要完善高校财务管理的社会问责制、拓宽高等教育的投融资渠道、积极推进公办地方高校体制改革。     

Credit-spread determinants and interlocking contracts: A study of the Ras Gas project

This paper provides an in-depth study of the allocation of a firm's residual risks not explicitly managed through interlocking contracts in the context of project finance. Focusing on the Ras Gas project, we relate its credit spreads as a measure of investor risk perceptions to firm-specific risk factors in the context of 25-year supply agreements, debt covenants, and a debt-service guarantee contingent on output prices. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find that unmanaged risk factors affecting the supply agreement drive Ras Gas’ credit spreads, whereas managed ones have no effect. Interpreting our findings as evidence for the nexus-of-contracts view of the firm, we discuss some implications for financial design and valuation.     

Personal bankruptcy and consumer credit delinquency: The case of personal finance education

Given the increasing complexities of the financial markets as well as a shift away from employer/government sponsored pensions to individuals managing their retirement funds, personal finance education is an important tool in order to navigate the evolving and complex financial environment. In this paper, I examine the impact of personal finance education on credit delinquency. Prior studies show that financial literacy affects financial decisions such as savings, retirement planning, wealth accumulation and stock market participation. Using U.S data on personal bankruptcy and consumer credit delinquency rates, I show that personal finance education is important in reducing personal bankruptcy as well as consumer credit delinquency rates. Furthermore, personal finance education does not appear to moderate the impact of gambling legislation on personal bankruptcy or consumer credit default.     

A Comparative Analysis of Financial Professionals’ Perception of the Level of Graduating Business Student Retirement Planning Familiarity,Motivation, and Preparedness

Academic, government, employer, and individual interest in personal financial literacy have mushroomed as financial decision making has become more complex, costly, and less paternalistic. Financial illiteracy in America manifests in many ways, including low levels of personal saving, high levels of personal debt, negative financial wealth, a decline in standard of living, and increased demand on social safety networks. For college students, of particular concern is the high level of public and private debt accrued while working toward a degree. It is important to understand how prepared households are for retirement planning decisions and which factors can improve their preparedness. We show that financial education is impactful in reducing financial illiteracy, and provides evidence that taking a personal risk management and insurance course helps to prepare college students to make retirement decisions. Second, we provide evidence that life stage explains differences (similarities) in how professionals self‐rate the importance, familiarity, and motivation to plan and save for retirement versus their opinion on how vital the questions should be to students. Finally, additional evidence is provided showing that demographic characteristics explain differences in the importance and motivation to plan and save for retirement and in the familiarity that respondents have with retirement planning and saving products.     

Sequential loss of self-control: Exploring the antecedents and consequences of student credit card debt

Self-control lapses not only impact credit card debt, but combined with this debt lead to further self-control lapses and life stressors for consumers. A causal model is developed and tested exploring college students’ pre-/post-debt decisions as a series of sequential losses in self-control, and how initial and post-failure decisions impact financial anxiety. Pre-debt loss of control takes on two forms: materialism and impulsivity. Locus of control theory is used to test how post-failure self-control lapses negatively impact the psychological well-being of consumers. A better understanding of these time-ordered self-control mechanisms offers insights for developing educational and policy interventions useful for staving off self-control lapses early in the decision-making process.     

社会信用、刚兑信仰与地方政府隐性债务

防范化解地方政府隐性债务风险是当前我国亟待解决的重要问题。本文基于2007年至2019年293个地级市面板数据,研究社会信用对地方政府隐性债务的影响。我们发现:(1)社会信用下滑会导致地方政府隐性债务规模提高和融资成本上升。(2)社会信用通过影响市场金融资源供给和政府债务需求进而影响隐性债务规模与融资成本,但上述机制在有无“刚兑信仰”情境下存在差异。(3)对比新《预算法》和“43号文”出台前后社会信用对隐性债务影响的异质性发现,债务管制显著提高了融资平台的市场化程度。虽然政策前期金融市场更多呈现出一种观望态度,但违约事件打破了金融市场对地方政府隐性债务的“刚兑信仰”,隐性债务发行受到的市场约束力度显著增强。本文对更好地认识地方政府隐性债务风险、理解当前债务治理措施的有效性以及未来如何通过完善社会信用体系建设化解地方政府隐性债务风险具有启示意义。     

金融知识与小微企业创新意识、创新活力——基于中国小微企业调查(CMES)的实证研究

根据人力资本理论的解释,金融知识体现了小微企业主对经济金融相关信息的认知与决策、以及使用正规金融工具与服务的能力,因此将作用于小微企业的创新意识与创新活力。实证结果发现,金融知识显著提升了小微企业的创新意识,表现为更重视创新的必要性与员工的创新能力,也有效改善了创新活力。这对相关政府部门与金融机构进一步普及金融知识与开展面向小微企业主的培训,提供了积极的数据支持。进一步分析表明,金融知识通过市场认知机制与信贷约束机制分别作用于创新意识与创新活力。在市场化高、非国有经济发展好、金融市场化高的地区,小微企业的创新活力强而创新意识不强,金融知识的作用主要在于提升创新意识,即提升市场认知机制发挥作用;而在市场化低、非国有经济发展差、金融市场化低的地区,小微企业的创新意识强而创新活力不强,金融知识的作用主要在于提升创新活力,即缓解需求抑制型信贷约束的机制发挥作用。     

Resilience and wellbeing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of financial literacy

Using the 2021 wave of the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index), this paper provides an in-depth examination of the financial literacy of U.S. adults in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowledge is troublingly low, with U.S. adults averaging a score of 50 percent on the twenty-eight questions that compose the P-Fin Index. Even more disturbingly, only 28 percent of U.S. adults correctly answered a question testing their ability to comprehend and compare probabilities. Financial literacy matters. Lower financial literacy is associated with increased time spent worrying about personal finances. After controlling for income, education, and key demographic information, the more financially literate are found to be more likely to be financially resilient, to plan for retirement, and to feel unconstrained by debt. These findings highlight the importance of financial knowledge, in particular in a time of crisis, and raise concerns about the public’s ability to comprehend complex messages about risk during the pandemic.     

Consumer rationality/irrationality and financial literacy in the credit card market: Implications from an integrative review

This study analyzes consumer rationality/irrationality and financial literacy in the credit card market. Through literature review, it reveals that consumers, as a whole, make a rational decision when they borrow using a credit card and bear the high interest rate. However, consumers make various mistakes in their individual financial decisions and credit card behavior. Financial literacy, affected by cognitive ability, financial knowledge and financial education can improve consumers’ behavior. This article presents new insights on the implications for consumers, credit card issuers, policymakers and researchers. It has both practical and academic contribution to the credit card market.     

Financial literacy and shrouded credit card rewards

Credit card companies charge an interchange fee for each transaction, and almost half of this fee is returned to consumers in the form of a reward or perk program. Among credit card users who do not use cards for borrowing (convenience users), rewards are a means to negotiate the implicit price of the interchange fee. Any consumer whose time cost is less than the value of rebates should rationally choose a reward card. Half of convenience users do not own a reward card. We hypothesize that credit card companies segment customers by marketing non-salient credit card characteristics to appeal to naïve consumers while offering lower-price cards (net the rebate) to compete for more sophisticated consumers as suggested in Gabaix and Laibson (2006). Consumer sophistication is measured using a 20-question financial literacy instrument in a large national data set. When household characteristics such as education, income and wealth are controlled in a multivariate analysis, respondents in the highest financial literacy quintile were twice as likely to own a rewards card. The relation between literacy and reward cards provides evidence that credit card rebates resemble other markets where hidden product attributes create a welfare transfer from naïve to sophisticated consumers.     

Resaleable debt and systemic risk

Many debt claims, such as bonds, are resaleable; others, such as repos, are not. There was a fivefold increase in repo borrowing before the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Why? Did banks’ dependence on non-resaleable debt precipitate the crisis? In this paper, we develop a model of bank lending with credit frictions. The key feature of the model is that debt claims are heterogenous in their resaleability. We find that decreasing credit market frictions leads to an increase in borrowing via non-resaleable debt. Such borrowing has a dark side: It causes credit chains to form, because, if a bank makes a loan via non-resaleable debt and needs liquidity, it cannot sell the loan but must borrow via a new contract. These credit chains are a source of systemic risk, as one bank’s default harms not only its creditors but also its creditors’ creditors. Overall, our model suggests that reducing credit market frictions may have an adverse effect on the financial system and even lead to the failures of financial institutions.     

The effects of bank relationships on firm private debt restructuring: Evidence from an emerging market

Our paper seeks to examine the direct benefit of bank relationships for a distressed borrower by assessing its influence on the success of firm private debt restructuring. We find that a distressed firm with a stronger bank relationship has a greater probability to successfully restructure its debt through private renegotiation. Accordingly, an analysis of credit rating recovery provides complementary evidence on the factors of successful debt restructuring. A duration analysis of the length of time needed for a debt restructuring to be completed is fully consistent with our documented results. We conclude that in a bank dominated financial system like Taiwan's where firms are heavily bank-dependent, the bank-firm relationship is of crucial importance to the success of financially distressed firms in private debt restructuring.     

自我信贷配给、农村家庭财务能力与非正规借贷——基于江苏省495户农村家庭的调查

通过建立分位数回归模型,分析了自我信贷配给农村家庭财务能力水平与其非正规借贷规模之间的关系,实证结果显示:具有自我信贷配给特征的农村家庭,家庭财务能力与非正规借贷数量显著正相关;其中财务能力较低组农村家庭,其财务能力与借贷规模呈显著负相关关系;财务能力中等组农村家庭,其借贷规模受到财务能力的正向影响;财务能力较高组农村家庭,其借贷规模受到财务能力的正向影响越大.从而验证了我国农村“越穷越借,越借越穷”与“量入为出,不愿负债”并存的现象.因此,加强农村金融知识培训与普及、引导农村居民形成理性财务思维,提高农村家庭财务能力将有助于农村家庭更好地通过使用非正规借贷优化家庭财务效用.     

Brand perception,cash flow stability,and financial policy

This paper demonstrates that intangible assets play an important role in financial policy. Using a proprietary database of consumer brand evaluation, I show that positive consumer attitude toward a firm's products alleviates financial frictions and provides additional net debt capacity, as measured by higher leverage and lower cash holdings. Brand perception affects financial policy through reducing overall firm riskiness, as strong consumer evaluations translate into lower future cash flow volatility as well as higher credit ratings for potentially volatile firms. The impact of brand is stronger among small firms, contradicting a number of reverse causality and omitted variables explanations.     

Sovereign Defaults,Credit to the Private Sector,and Domestic Credit Market Institutions

Sovereign defaults are associated with declines in foreign and domestic credit to the domestic private sector. This paper analyzes theoretically whether sovereign defaults can lead to this decline, even if domestic agents do not hold sovereign debt. It also studies whether the quality of domestic financial institutions affect the magnitude of this effect. In order to address these issues, the paper embeds the traditional sovereign borrower/foreign creditors relationship of the sovereign debt literature in a macromodel where widespread individual financial constraints limit a country's ability to reallocate resources. The paper finds that sovereign defaults can indeed generate a decline in foreign and domestic credit even if domestic agents do not hold sovereign debt, and that stronger domestic financial institutions can amplify this effect. These findings constitute a new step toward understanding the costs of sovereign defaults.     

Sovereign credit spreads

The paper develops a structural credit risk model to study sovereign credit risk and the dynamics of sovereign credit spreads. The model features endogenous default and recovery rates that both depend on the interaction between domestic output fluctuations and global macroeconomic conditions. We show that sovereigns choose to default at higher levels of economic output once global macroeconomic conditions are bad. This yields to default rates and credit spreads that are substantially higher compared to normal times. We derive closed-form expressions for sovereign debt values and default times and focus on the dynamics of sovereign credit spreads. As opposed to standard theories of sovereign debt, this paper’s structural model generates much richer default patterns and non-linearities through regime-shifts in the global macroeconomic environment. Moreover, changes in the global environment reveal the interconnectedness of the financial system.