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High School Economic Education and Access to Financial Services
Author(s) -
GRIMES PAUL W.,
ROGERS KEVIN E.,
SMITH REBECCA CAMPBELL
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2010.01171.x
Subject(s) - unbanked , ceteris paribus , coursework , financial services , economics , business , finance , economics education , actuarial science , public economics , higher education , economic growth , financial inclusion , sociology , pedagogy , microeconomics
This study provides a long‐term assessment of economic education by examining an individual's decision to have a bank account. Using the results of a nationwide telephone survey, high school courses in economics and business reduced the probability that an adult was unbanked, ceteris paribu s. In addition, adults who demonstrated a higher level of understanding of basic economic concepts were less likely to be unbanked. The results indicated that an individual's understanding of the economic system was as important as formal coursework in explaining access to basic financial services.