Does education promote risk-taking? Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the impact of schooling on risk perceptions and the moderation role of a non-cognitive skill, locus of control.

Design/methodology/approach

Using information from the Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel data set, the study employs Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to address the potential endogeneity problem of the schooling variable.

Findings

The findings indicate that a higher level of willingness to take risks is correlated with additional schooling years. In other words, those with higher levels of education are more prone to take more risks. The result demonstrates that the association between education and risk attitudes is moderated by locus of control.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the growing literature on education in emerging countries by addressing the endogeneity problem of schooling variables using the GMM method. Moreover, this study examines the mediating role of personal non-cognitive skills, namely locus of control, in the relationship between education and risk attitudes.

Citation

Tran, D.B. and Tran, H.T.M. (2025), "Does education promote risk-taking? Evidence from Vietnam", Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 290-302. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-11-2023-0656