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Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?

by Paula Sarabando a,b orcid ,  Roge rio Matias a orcid ,  Pedro Vasconcelos c  and  Tiago Miguel a,* orcid
a
School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal
b
Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers (INESC-Coimbra), Coimbra, Portugal
c
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
JEA  2023 2(2):28; https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02020007
Received: 2 March 2023 / Accepted: 19 April 2023 / Published Online: 28 April 2023
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Abstract

Financial literacy seems to be more important and focused than ever. Several recent studies have found that Portugal is at bottom of the table compared to the Eurozone countries regarding financial literacy. As it’s a key factor in the development of a country, it appears to be crucial to understand what people know about financial matters when they complete compulsory schooling. With a sample of 296 Portuguese students who enrolled in the polytechnic higher education system for the first time, we studied if they understand simple concepts related to financial issues (such as loans), as well as whether they are aware of the risk of not recovering the money invested that is embedded in some of the most talked-about and common financial products that are available in the market. This last objective seems to be relevant since a lot of fraudulent schemes involving teenagers, young adults, and financial markets have emerged in recent years. From the results, some disturbing conclusions can be drawn. For instance, more than two-thirds of the sample do not know what Euribor is (similar result regarding Spread). About a third of the simple do not understand inflation’s consequences. 16,9% do not know what term deposits are, and derivative products and saving certificates are seen as very alike regarding the risk they represent. Students who chose a business-related course as their first choice when applying showed a higher level of financial literacy, although it is still low compared to what one would expect.

Keywords: Financial literacy; Portugal; Risk perception; Personal finance;
Copyright: © 2023 by Sarabando, Matias, Vasconcelos and Miguel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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APA Style
Sarabando, P., Matias, R. r., Vasconcelos, P., & Miguel, T. (2023). Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2(2), 28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
ACS Style
Sarabando, P.; Matias, R. r.; Vasconcelos, P.; Miguel, T. Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2023, 2, 28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
AMA Style
Sarabando P, Matias R r, Vasconcelos P et al.. Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis; 2023, 2(2):28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
Chicago/Turabian Style
Sarabando, Paula; Matias, Roge r.; Vasconcelos, Pedro; Miguel, Tiago 2023. "Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?" Journal of Economic Analysis 2, no.2:28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007

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ACS Style
Sarabando, P.; Matias, R. r.; Vasconcelos, P.; Miguel, T. Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2023, 2, 28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
AMA Style
Sarabando P, Matias R r, Vasconcelos P et al.. Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis; 2023, 2(2):28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
Chicago/Turabian Style
Sarabando, Paula; Matias, Roge r.; Vasconcelos, Pedro; Miguel, Tiago 2023. "Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?" Journal of Economic Analysis 2, no.2:28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007
APA style
Sarabando, P., Matias, R. r., Vasconcelos, P., & Miguel, T. (2023). Financial literacy of Portuguese undergraduate students in polytechnics: does the area of the course influence financial literacy?. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2(2), 28. doi:10.58567/jea02020007

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