Risk Taking Behaviour and Diversification Strategies: Do Financial Literacy and Financial Education Play a Role?

This study investigates whether financial education and financial literacy influence the risk taking of non-professional investors and the diversification strategies they pursue. To this purpose, we submitted a questionnaire to 711 US residents. Our results show that financial education prevents financial illiteracy and changes the investment process of investors. On the other hand, financial literacy, measured according to the synthetic metric introduced by Lusardi and Mitchell, does not influence risk taking. Financial education indirectly exerts its influence also on a simple diversification behaviour, the so-called naïve diversification, pursued equally splitting wealth among investment classes. In fact, whereas for uneducated investors there is no relationship between risk diversification strategies with both financial literacy and the main investor features, for educated investors financial literacy fosters such diversification behaviour. These results have important policy implications showing that financial education can trigger relevant changes in the investment patterns of investors. Our study introduces a series of novelties. First, we focus on how financial education and financial literacy simultaneously affect the investment process of investors. Moreover, we attempt to disentangle their effects on the risk taking dimension and diversification strategies, which are the most effective way to contain the potentially disruptive effects of risks taken

Pengaruh Personality Traits Dan Bias Perilaku Keuangan Terhadap Keputusan Berinvestasi

Seiring dengan terobosan penelitian terdahulu mengenai behavioral finance, maka penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui pengaruh ciri-ciri kepribadian dan bias perilaku keuangan terhadap keputusan investasi deposito. Oleh karena itu, pengujian dilakukan dengan menggunakan variabel overconfidence, neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, acceptableness, dan risk aversion terhadap keputusan investasi. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan penyebarkan 300 kuesioner yang direspon oleh investor deposito di Kota Batam, Indonesia. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa variabel overconfidence dan conscientiousness yang berpengaruh positif signifikan terhadap keputusan investasi. Sedangkan variabel lainnya tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap keputusan investasi. Keterbatasan pada penelitian ini terletak pada pengambilan sampel hanya pada investor di Kota Batam

How does risk aversion shape investors’ intentions? Evidence from the Indian corporate bond market

Risk aversion plays a crucial role in understanding how individuals make financial decisions and allocate their resources. This study analyzes the influence of risk aversion on behavioral intentions and explores the mediating role of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Additionally, it investigates the moderating effect of gender and financial literacy on behavioral intentions of investors. A sample of 400 people was collected from Indian retail investors by administering a structured questionnaire through stock brokering firms, and data were analyzed using Partial least squares – Structural equation modelling in the Smart PLS 3.3.9 software. The research found that risk aversion, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly impact an investor’s intention. Among all the antecedents of behavioral intentions, perceived behavioral control (β 0.481*) was found as a significant predictor of the intention compared to attitude (β 0.154*), subjective norms (β 0.224*) and risk aversion (β 0.082*) factors. Further, mediation analysis found that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control partially mediated the relationship between risk aversion and intention. Lastly, the multi-group analysis revealed that gender and financial literacy did not moderate the association between risk aversion and intention

Financial literacy among small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Global concerns about financial literacy have heightened following the 2007/8 global financial crisis where it became apparent that lack of financial literacy was one of factors that contributed to the detrimental financial decisions taken. There is global recognition that poor financial decisions have a harmful overspill impact on financial and economic stability. In light of the importance of financial literacy in all economies, this study was conducted to ascertain the level of financial literacy among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe that are key contributors to economic growth. The study was motivated by the need to develop a comprehensive financial literacy strategy which, if implemented, would enable business players to operate in the current financial landscape characterised by an influx of complex financial products. This research sought to relate financial literacy to financial product awareness and utilization and describe the financial behaviour of SMEs and their patterns of debt management. While governments across the world have expressed concern about the financial literacy levels of different population cohorts and have launched financial education programmes, Zimbabwe is lagging behind. Despite numerous initiatives by the government to support SMEs, business growth remains subdued, the sector remains financially excluded and many businesses fail within the first five years of operation. Research indicates that business failure is a result of poor financial management, hence it became necessary to establish the level of financial literacy of SMEs so that a comprehensive financial literacy strategy could be developed to address the phenomenon. A quantitative cross sectional research design was employed, with data collected by means of a questionnaire administered to a sample of 384 SMEs in Harare and Bindura district. The study‟s findings revealed that financial knowledge was low, notably among the young and aged, those who are single, separated or divorced and, surprisingly, those with more business experience. Significant differences were noted across age groups, business sectors and years of experience in business. Although SMES exhibited positive and somewhat positive financial behaviour, a correlation analysis between financial literacy and financial behaviour revealed a weak positive relationship, calling for the need to seek strategies to address financial literacy. The study also established that SMEs are not aware of many financial products, nor do they utilize them. An association between financial knowledge and financial product awareness was noted, with those with high financial knowledge being aware of many financial products. However, no association was noted between financial knowledge levels and financial product utilization. Regarding debt behaviour, the research established that SMEs were not comfortable with their debt positions but because they were aware of the consequences of default, they made sure they met their financial obligations on time. In times of financial distress, friends and relatives were the main sources of funding and loans were beginning to gain popularity due to the increase in the number of micro finance institutions. On the whole, the research concluded that there is low financial literacy and low utilization of financial products among SMEs, but positive debt behaviour. The study recommended the introduction of financial education for SMEs and the development of the curriculum thereof, the increase in awareness campaigns, and an increase in access to information on financial products and services by the SMEs

Tecnologias pervasivas da saúde : como está o futuro a ser preparado pelas empresas de software em Portugal?

The present work addresses the software industry aiming to evaluate its preparation for the opportunity that the healthcare area offers in terms of pervasive healthcare technologies, as a perspective for the growth of the market. Phenomena such as chronic disease growth and survival, increasing longevity, active ageing, remote patient monitoring, the big data of healthcare and the globalization of the smartphone, provide growth opportunities for the software industry and indicate a path by which where societies are orienting themselves and giving special importance. Following a literature review, after a general introduction to the major themes of economic development and globalization, and a survey of current technologies and the evolution of successful industries in Portugal, it was developed an analysis to the software industry and the results of a survey of associates of an Industry Association. The study concludes that while there are positive aspects that may help the software industry to be prepared for the opportunities that the health sector offers, there are key elements that will have to be improved not only in clusters activities as in knowledge of health and focus on exports that will have to be improved so that industry can be successful in this field.O presente trabalho aborda a indústria do software pretendendo avaliar a sua preparação para a oportunidade que a área da saúde oferece em termos de tecnologias pervasivas de saúde numa perspetiva de crescimento do mercado. Fenómenos como o aumento das doenças crónicas, a crescente longevidade, bem como o aparecimento de soluções tecnológicas extraordinariamente sofisticadas, oferece oportunidades de crescimento à indústria do software e indicam um caminho por onde as sociedades estão a orientar-se e a dar especial importância. Após uma pesquisa bibliográfica, que permitiu um levantamento das tecnologias atuais e da evolução das indústrias bem-sucedidas em Portugal, desenvolveu-se uma análise à indústria do software a partir dos resultados de um inquérito dirigido aos associados de uma Associação representativa da indústria. Do estudo conclui-se que embora haja aspetos positivos que poderão ajudar a indústria do software a preparar-se para as oportunidades que o sector da saúde oferece, há elementos essenciais que terão que ser melhorados não só na orgânica produtiva com base em clusters, mas também no conhecimento da área da saúde e enfoque nas exportações que terão que ser melhoradas para que a indústria possa ser bem-sucedida neste ramo.Programa Doutoral em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúd

Cooperatives for staple crop marketing: Evidence from Ethiopia

Rural producer organizations, such as farmers' organizations or rural cooperatives, offer a means for smallholder farmers in developing countries to sell their crops commercially. They hold particular promise for Sub-Saharan Africa, where small-scale farming is the primary livelihood but commercialization of foodcrops is very limited. Using the experience of smallholders in Ethiopia as a case study, this research monograph identifies the benefits of rural producer organizations for small farmers, as well as the conditions under which such organizations most successfully promote smallholder commercialization. The evidence from Ethiopia indicates that they do increase farmers' profits from crop sales, but that the beneficiaries do not tend to be the poorest smallholders. Moreover, a rural producer organization's marketing effectiveness is precarious: it can easily diminish if the number or diversity of its members increases or if it provides more nonmarketing services. The authors conclude that these organizations have a role to play in the agricultural development of Sub-Saharan Africa, but that role should be complemented by other programs that directly target the poorest farmers. Further, the effectiveness of rural producer organizations should be preserved by allowing them to follow their own agendas rather than being encouraged to take on nonmarketing activities. The assessment of rural producer organizations presented in this monograph should be a valuable resource for policymakers and researchers concerned with economic development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa.Agricultural development, economic growth, Food security Africa, Poverty reduction, Rural poverty, Rural producer organizations (RPOs), Smallholders,

An Empathy-Based Sandbox Approach to Bridge Attitudes, Goals, Knowledge, and Behaviors in the Privacy Paradox

The "privacy paradox" describes the discrepancy between users' privacy attitudes and their actual behaviors. Mitigating this discrepancy requires solutions that account for both system opaqueness and users' hesitations in testing different privacy settings due to fears of unintended data exposure. We introduce an empathy-based approach that allows users to experience how privacy behaviors may alter system outcomes in a risk-free sandbox environment from the perspective of artificially generated personas. To generate realistic personas, we introduce a novel pipeline that augments the outputs of large language models using few-shot learning, contextualization, and chain of thoughts. Our empirical studies demonstrated the adequate quality of generated personas and highlighted the changes in privacy-related applications (e.g., online advertising) caused by different personas. Furthermore, users demonstrated cognitive and emotional empathy towards the personas when interacting with our sandbox. We offered design implications for downstream applications in improving user privacy literacy and promoting behavior changes

Financial literacy amongst Portuguese students attending higher education on business related courses

Financial markets are global and financial products that are increasingly complex. Therefore, an individual’s financial knowledge is vital for informed decision-making enabling the best personal financial management possible. Given the importance of financial literacy in people’s lives, its determinants have tried to be identified to understand how it influences financial literacy levels, namely among young people. Hence, the goal of this study will be to assess the level of financial literacy of young Portuguese students, addressing the impact of the level of education on the financial literacy of college students. To test this, data from a questionnaire distributed to both Bachelor’s and Master’s students in business related courses at higher education institutions (namely Coimbra Business School and the Economics Faculty of Coimbra University) and through social media (namely Facebook) were analysed. The main findings were that both the level of the degree being studied (whether either a bachelor’s or master’s degree is being studied) and the academic background of the individual’s parents have a positive impact on financial literacy. Furthermore, the level of financial literacy of Portuguese students attending higher education is low, especially in terms of their knowledge of the main financial concepts.Os mercados financeiros são globais e os produtos financeiros são cada vez mais complexos, pelo que o conhecimento financeiro é vital para a tomada de decisões informadas que levem à melhor gestão possível. Dada a importância deste tópico na vida das pessoas, tentou-se identificar os determinantes para perceber como é possível influenciar os níveis de literacia financeira, nomeadamente em jovens. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo será avaliar o impacto do grau académico a frequentar no nível de literacia financeira dos estudantes universitários. Com esta finalidade, os dados de questionários que foram distribuídos a alunos a frequentar licenciaturas e mestrados em áreas relacionadas com ciências empresariais em instituições de ensino superior (nomeadamente Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração de Coimbra e Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra) bem como através de redes sociais (nomeadamente o Facebook) foram analisados. As principais conclusões do estudo destacam que o nível de educação frequentado dos indivíduos (Licenciatura ou Mestrado) assim como as habilitações dos pais influenciam positivamente na sua literacia financeira. Adicionalmente observou-se que a literacia financeira dos alunos universitários portugueses é baixa especialmente no que respeita ao conhecimento financeir

Corporate Finance

This book comprises 19 papers published in the Special Issue entitled “Corporate Finance”, focused on capital structure (Kedzior et al., 2020; Ntoung et al., 2020; Vintilă et al., 2019), dividend policy (Dragotă and Delcea, 2019; Pinto and Rastogi, 2019) and open-market share repurchase announcements (Ding et al., 2020), risk management (Chen et al., 2020; Nguyen Thanh, 2019; Štefko et al., 2020), financial reporting (Fossung et al., 2020), corporate brand and innovation (Barros et al., 2020; Błach et al., 2020), and corporate governance (Aluchna and Kuszewski, 2020; Dragotă et al.,2020; Gruszczyński, 2020; Kjærland et al., 2020; Koji et al., 2020; Lukason and Camacho-Miñano, 2020; Rashid Khan et al., 2020). It covers a broad range of companies worldwide (Cameroon, China, Estonia, India, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, United States, Vietnam), as well as various industries (heat supply, high-tech, manufacturing)

How to Achieve Inclusive Growth

Rising inequality and widespread poverty, social unrest and polarization, gender and ethnic disparities, declining social mobility, economic fragility, unbalanced growth due to technology and globalization, and existential danger from climate change are urgent global concerns of our day. These issues are intertwined. They therefore require a holistic framework to examine their interplay and bring the various strands together. This book brings together leading academic economists and experts from several international institutions to explain the sources and scale of these challenges. The book summarizes a wide array of empirical evidence and country experiences, lays out practical policy solutions, and devises a comprehensive and unified plan of action for combatting these economic and social disparities. This authoritative book is accessible to policy makers, students, and the general public interested in how to craft a brighter future by building a sustainable, green, and inclusive society in the years ahead