Mouna Amari, Bassem Salhi and Anis Jarboui
The objective of this study is to explore the effects of financial literacy level and risk aversion on the saving behavior. The literature review showed dialectical results…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to explore the effects of financial literacy level and risk aversion on the saving behavior. The literature review showed dialectical results. Therefore, this study attempts to clarify the debatable of these results by studying the mediating effect of risk aversion on the relationships between demographics determinants and saving behavior moderated by the effect of the financial literacy level.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from the University of Normandy; the study sample included 516 respondents representing different segments of French households. The structural equation analysis was utilized to control the impact of financial literacy as a moderate variable and the risk aversion as a mediator variable among the link between sociodemographic factors and saving behavior.
Findings
The results demonstrated that there were significant effects of demographics factors on risk aversion. Moreover, financial literacy moderates the relationships between risk aversion and saving behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation of this research is the small size of the study sample. This paper is restricted to French households. Future financial education training should cover the European context.
Practical implications
This study provides further evidence that financial literacy should be considered an important factor for improving household well-being. The paper encourages governments and financial institutions to create a national financial education program.
Originality/value
This paper is the first attempt to employ a sample of low-income households after financial education training in the French context.
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This paper aim to fill the gaps by looking for the determinants and barriers related to financial inclusion. This study assesses the effect of socio-demographic variables on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aim to fill the gaps by looking for the determinants and barriers related to financial inclusion. This study assesses the effect of socio-demographic variables on the use of formal financial inclusion services.
Design/methodology/approach
This article examines the barriers to formal financial inclusion, focusing on saving and credit strands. The authors propose the probit model, allowing distinguishing the outcome variable into three categories: Formal inclusion, informal inclusion and financial exclusion. The authors apply this model to the Findex 2017 survey data.
Findings
Estimation results propose that the trust to financial institutions, the distance to banks, the lack of documentation and the service costs are the main barriers, but these barriers affect the probability of using formal financial services differently according to the types of financial services (saving or credit).
Research limitations/implications
To advance the formal financial inclusion in Tunisia, the authors call for continuing promoting financial literacy among adults and the young population, which helps them understand the benefits of using formal financial services. Financial literacy throws in constructing the individual trust toward the financial sector in a country that experienced several decades of political and economic instability.
Originality/value
Financial inclusion promotes growth through a broadening of the system and technology that can be a major catalyst for greater financial inclusion. It helps in the overall economic development of the underprivileged population and contributes to poverty reduction. It can also enhance the security of payments, and thus lower the incidence of associated crime.
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To help inform the debate over whether socio-demographic characteristics are related to the use of digital technologies, the authors investigated the effects of age, gender…
Abstract
Purpose
To help inform the debate over whether socio-demographic characteristics are related to the use of digital technologies, the authors investigated the effects of age, gender, education, income and being in the workforce on changes in using financial digital services using panel data collected in the MENA countries during 2017.
Design/methodology/approach
This study aims to identify the impact of government policy on the determinants of financial inclusion and digital payment services in the MENA region. The authors use microdata from the 2017 Global Findex database on MENA countries to perform probit estimations. The paper focuses on the role of technology adoption by government authorities in extending financial inclusion and digital payment around different people.
Findings
The authors find that poorer people (and, by association, less educated people) and the young (but less so the elderly) are disproportionately excluded from the financial system. Results confirm that better collaboration between the government and the financial sector can help to develop digital financial inclusion through the technology adoption channels. The study confirms the significant impact of the government cashless policy in advancing financial inclusion in the MENA countries, with potentially wider applicability to other developed economies.
Practical implications
Policies to advance mobile money innovations could stimulate financial inclusion by promoting digital transaction services. The role of government authorities is imperative to harness the beneficial and sustainable gains from digitizing remittances and transfers to promote a cashless economy.
Originality/value
Financial inclusion promotes equality through a broadening of the system and government cashless policy can be a major catalyst for greater financial inclusion. It helps in the overall economic development of the underprivileged population and contributes to poverty reduction.
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Amari Mouna, Baklouti Nedra and Mouakher Khaireddine
This paper aims to explore the impact of information communication technology (ICT) use and government efficiency on the economic growth. It assesses empirically the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact of information communication technology (ICT) use and government efficiency on the economic growth. It assesses empirically the impact of government success in ICT promotion and government efficiency to enhance economic growth and catalyzing corruption control through technology adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the relationship between ICT and economic growth in a large sample of 149 countries for the period 2012–2016. The empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments.
Findings
There is a significant relationship between e-government development, ICT development and institutional quality, and not ICT development and corruption. The empirical results show that a negative value of the interaction suggests that the impact of corruption on economic growth is smaller for countries with a higher level of technology adoption.
Practical implications
The differences in e-government success across countries in the world are influenced by the digital divide due to income and corruption control level.
Originality/value
The efficiency of technology adoption and promotion will ensure stronger effects of corruption control on economic growth. Relevant practical implications derive from the research that can guide public policy in the area of e-government.
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Mouna Amari, Khaireddine Mouakhar and Anis Jarboui
This paper aims to study the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) readiness, use, and intensity and environmental sustainability factors in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) readiness, use, and intensity and environmental sustainability factors in the lower and middle lower-income countries from 2012 to 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
ICT readiness, use and intensity are measured with the impact of ICT on access to basic services, phone penetration and Internet penetration, while CO2 emissions per capita, fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions are used as indicators for air pollution. To achieve this goal, a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation was performed which thresholds are computed contingent on the validity of tested hypotheses.
Findings
The results demonstrate that increasing ICT readiness, use and intensity in lower and lower-middle-income countries enhance environmental sustainability by decreasing CO2 emissions and energy consumption.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this study is that the conclusions and policy recommendations do not take into account the specificities of each country. Indeed there are some differences in the growth pattern of ICT in the lower and middle-lower-income countries. Taken together, the authors conclude that increasing ICT has a positive net effect on CO2 and methane emissions per capita, while increasing the impact of ICT access in basic services has a net negative effect on CO2 fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions.
Practical implications
The world needs immediate emissions reduction to avoid the long-term danger of climate change. Second, government authorities should give additional efforts in the more pollutant sector such as transport and industry to monitor their energy consumption.
Originality/value
To explore this issue further, the negative net effects suggest that ICT needs to be further developed beyond the determined thresholds, to attain the required negative net effect on fossil fuel energy consumption.
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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the lack of financial literacy as one probable factor explaining the low levels of portfolio diversification. The authors consider…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the lack of financial literacy as one probable factor explaining the low levels of portfolio diversification. The authors consider distinct aspects of financial literacy and control for socioeconomic and behavioral differences among individual groups of investors.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed models in this paper use multivariate analysis to examine the relationship between financial literacy and portfolio diversification. Investors’ biases have been measured by means of a questionnaire comprising several items, including indicators of investors’ portfolio fragmentation, financial literacy and socio economic variables. The sample consists of 256 small investors actively trading on the Tunisian stock market.
Findings
The results suggest that investors’ experience, financial literacy level, age, their use of the availability heuristic, familiarity bias and portfolio size, have a significant impact on the diversity of assets included their portfolios.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the empirical study is the small size of the sample. A larger sample would have given more reliable results and could have enabled a wider range of analyzes.
Practical implications
The paper encourages investors to make their investments decisions based on their financial capability and experience levels and to avoid relying on their sentiment.
Social implications
The paper encourages governmental organizations to establish training programmes aimed to develop the individual investor’s financial literacy level.
Originality/value
The current study is the first of its kind focusing on the link between financial literacy and portfolio diversification, within the specific context of Tunisia.
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Aysa Siddika and Abdullah Sarwar
This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the low adoption rate of mobile money services (MMS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region compared to other…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the low adoption rate of mobile money services (MMS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region compared to other regions. The study focussed on socio-demographic factors and macro-level determinants in several selected MENA and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) regions where MMS have been successful.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analysed 23 countries across MENA and SSA to establish the correlation between socio and macroeconomic factors and MMS adoption using a quantitative approach. The analysis used the generalized least square (GLS) method.
Findings
The study revealed that gender and income are factors that positively influence the adoption of MMS in MENA and SSA regions. Additionally, the study found that the affordability index, which measures macroeconomic indicators, correlates with MMS adoption in both regions but in an inversed way. On the other hand, political stability appears to have a positive correlation with MMS adoption in the MENA region. The correlation between the regulatory index and MMS adoption positively impacts the entire study group, although it is insignificant in the SSA region.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should assess market competition among MMS providers and the psychological aspect of user adoption behaviour. Additionally, conducting a focus group discussion with stakeholders in the MMS industry can assist in uncovering potential factors contributing to low MMS adoption in the MENA region.
Originality/value
This study contributes to understanding the role of the socio-demographic and macroeconomic determinants in promoting digital transformation through adopting MMS.
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Luiz Alves Cruz, Verónica Peñaloza, Nilton Porto and Ting An
This study investigates the relationship between human values and saving behavior, focusing on both personal and cultural values.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the relationship between human values and saving behavior, focusing on both personal and cultural values.
Design/methodology/approach
The research utilizes data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey (2017–2020) covering 67,278 respondents across 48 countries and the Hofstede Insights (2024). The study employs principal component analysis to validate the measurement of personal values and multilevel logit regression to explore the associations between personal (individual level) and cultural (country level) values and saving behavior.
Findings
The findings, grounded in the functional theory of values, indicate that individuals with personal values oriented toward individual goals and survival needs are more likely to save money, whereas those with values centered on social orientation and thriving needs are less inclined to save. On a cultural level, individualistic societies tend to save more, while countries with high levels of uncertainty avoidance are associated with lower saving behavior.
Practical implications
This study provides further evidence that human values are important components of household savings behavior. Policymakers and stakeholders interested in fostering saving behavior should be aware of the role played by personal and cultural values when designing impactful policies and interventions. This process might involve encouraging survival traits and reducing economic uncertainty.
Originality/value
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of how personal and cultural values shape saving behavior across different societies. It contributes to the literature by highlighting the interplay between individual and societal factors in financial decision-making.