Does education promote risk-taking? Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines the impact of schooling on risk perceptions and the moderation role of a non-cognitive skill, locus of control.Design/methodology/approachUsing 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.FindingsThe 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/valueThis 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.