Measuring Financial Literacy
Open accessAbstract
Financial literacy (or financial knowledge) is typically an input to model the need for financial education and explain variation in financial outcomes. Defining and appropriately measuring financial literacy is essential to understand educational impact as well as barriers to effective financial choice. This article summarizes the broad range of financial literacy measures used in research over the last decade. An overview of the meaning and measurement of financial literacy is presented to highlight current limitations and assist researchers in establishing standardized, commonly accepted financial literacy instruments.
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Huston (2010) surveys 71 studies using 52 different data sets and finds no standardized conceptualization of financial literacy; 72% of studies did not include an explicit definition.
“In another extensive review of financial literacy operationalizations, Huston (2010) surveys 71 studies using 52 different data sets and corroborates that there is no such thing as a standardized conceptualization of financial literacy.72% of studies did not even include an explicit definition.”
From Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior (2017) · cites this paper as Huston (2010)
The terms financial literacy and financial knowledge were used interchangeably by almost half of all studies under review.
“Finally, the terms financial literacy and financial knowledge were used interchangeably by almost half of all studies under review.”
From Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior (2017) · cites this paper as Huston (2010)
Cites
Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?
Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2008) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.98.2.413 · Cited by 1,512 · see citing works
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The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence
Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2014) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.52.1.5 · Cited by 4,698 · see citing works
Financial Literacy, Financial Education, and Downstream Financial Behaviors
Fernandes, D., Lynch, J. G., & Netemeyer, R. G. (2014) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2013.1849 · Cited by 2,152 · see citing works
Netemeyer, R. G., Warmath, D., Fernandes, D., & Lynch, J. G. (2018) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucx109 · Cited by 842 · see citing works
THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED AND ACTUAL FINANCIAL LITERACY ON FINANCIAL BEHAVIORS
Allgood, S., & Walstad, W. B. (2016) · Economic Inquiry · doi:10.1111/ecin.12255 · Cited by 620 · see citing works
Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior
Stolper, O. A., & Walter, A. (2017) · Journal of Business Economics · doi:10.1007/s11573-017-0853-9 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
“In another extensive review of financial literacy operationalizations, Huston (2010) surveys 71 studies using 52 different data sets and corroborates that there is no such thing as a standardized conceptualization of financial literacy.”
BackgroundTowards an understanding of consumers’ FinTech adoption: The case of Open Banking
Chan, R., Troshani, I., Rao Hill, S., & Hoffmann, A. (2022) · International Journal of Bank Marketing · doi:10.1108/ijbm-08-2021-0397 · Cited by 281 · see citing works
Lee, T., Lee, B.-K., & Lee-Geiller, S. (2020) · International Journal of Information Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102098 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Arguments for and against financial literacy education: where to go from here?
Alsemgeest, L. (2015) · International Journal of Consumer Studies · doi:10.1111/ijcs.12163 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
- Authors
- HUSTON, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Corresponding author
- HUSTON, SANDRA J.
- Venue
- Journal of Consumer Affairs
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 296-316
- ISSN
- 0022-0078 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-6606
- OpenAlex
- W3122819058
- Cited by
- 2,558
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 157 · 2025: 183 · 2024: 284 · 2023: 351 · 2022: 273 · 2021: 342 · 2020: 206 · 2019: 188 · 2018: 136 · 2017: 106 · 2016: 81 · 2015: 72 · 2014: 82 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 59.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Consumer Affairs (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Financial Literacy and Behavior
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- financial literacy, financial literacy assessment, financial knowledge, financial education, financial choice, financial outcomes, measurement instruments
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