Endogenous Financial Literacy, Saving, and Stock Market Participation

Abstract

There is a consolidated empirical literature providing evidence of the fact that financial literacy, human capital, savings and stock market participation are interconnected decisions. However, to the best of our knowledge, a theoretical explanation of such connections is missing. In this paper we aim at filling this gap, by building a framework that includes all these decisions in an encompassing model. The results of our model provide a theoretical foundation for the role and the determinants of financial literacy and are able to explain several stylized facts on literacy and stock market participation.