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The low level of financial literacy among young adults is a pressing concern at both individual and country levels. Therefore, there is a dire need to understand the best-worst antecedents of financial literacy and how they influence each other.

A two-phased multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) technique consisting of best-worst method and interpretive structural modeling (BWM-ISM) was employed for pair-wise comparison, assigning weights, ranking and establishing the relationship among antecedents of financial literacy.

Results suggest that use of Internet (SF1), role of financial advisors (SF3) and education level of individuals (DS7) are top ranked antecedents, whereas masculinity/feminity, language and power distance in society are the least ranked antecedents of financial literacy. Findings will help both academicians and practitioners focus on the key factors and make efforts to increase financial literacy by minimizing resource usage.

The current study provides clarity among antecedents of financial literacy by following BWM-ISM approach for the first time in the financial literacy context.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2022-0746

The authors investigate the role of financial literacy in influencing the relationship between human capital and social capital, with access to finance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Data were gathered from 337 MSMEs in Brunei Darussalam, and analysis on the data was carried out using a number of statistical methods. The relationships between human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance were analyzed using PLS-SEM.

The results show that human capital does influence access to finance but contrary to previous studies, the influence is negative. Financial literacy is an important element in the relationship between human capital, social capital and access to finance, although it plays a greater role in the relationship between social capital and access to finance. Further analysis shows that financial knowledge is significant in moderating the relationships between human and social capital with access to finance. Financial skills is found to only moderate the relationship between social capital and access to finance.

To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first that integrates the human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance in a single model. The authors also highlight the importance of enhancing the financial literacy of MSMEs so that the problem of access to finance can be alleviated, especially in developing countries.

This paper aims to analyse how financial literacy (FL) is conceptualised and operationalised in the Indian context.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Thirty-six articles published between 2010 and 2020 were considered for analysis. The FL conceptualisation was examined based on knowledge, ability, skill, attitude and confidence elements. The FL operationalisation was analysed using the modified version of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 model for organising the domain for an assessment framework.

The findings indicate that, despite offering operationalisation details of the FL, 13 out of 36 studies did not include a conceptual definition of FL. Of the 23 studies that mentioned a conceptual definition, 87% are primarily focused on the “knowledge” element and only 39% have combined knowledge, ability/skill and attitude elements in defining FL. As in the developed countries, the Indian studies also preferred investment/saving-related contents in their FL measures. The volume of content focusing on the financial landscape is meagre amongst the FL measures used in India and developed countries. The survey instruments of most studies have been designed in the individuals’ context but have failed to measure the extent to which individuals apply the knowledge in performing their day-to-day financial transactions. Further, it was found that 20 out of 36 studies did not convert the FL level of their target groups into a single indicator or operational value.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the FL’s assessment practices in India. Further, this study offers new insights by comparing the contents of FL measures used in Indian studies with those used in developed countries.

This study aims to examine the association between risk tolerance and risky investment intention with financial literacy as a moderating variable. The proposed relationship was explored specifically for millennials.

The questionnaire was divided into three segments to assess millennials' financial literacy, risk tolerance and risky investment intention. This study uses survey data from 402 millennial investors residing in Delhi-NCR region. The authors exploited PLS-SEM for the analysis because the model involved higher-order constructs.

The findings revealed that financial literacy has a negative impact on risky investment intention. Further, risk tolerance had a positive and significant influence on risky investment intention; however, when financial literacy was added as a moderating variable in this relationship, it had a negative impact on risky investment intention.

Every generation has its quirks, and millennials are no exception. Given their age and sheer number, leading to their dominance in the global workforce, millennials will bring about a generational shift. Awareness of Gen Y's financial literacy and risk behavior enhances their ability to make informed financial decisions, thus proving beneficial not only to them, but also to the whole economy. This will also help policymakers and institutions to introduce financial literacy programs and financial products in alignment with their needs and preferences.

The study aims to explore the savings behaviour of Indian farmers. An attempt is also made to inspect the effect of financial literacy (FL) and financial confidence (FC) on the savings behaviour of the farmers in India.

This study used secondary data on 10,263 Indian farmers from Financial Inclusion Insights, 2017 database. Relevant statistical techniques and ordered probit regression were used to unfold the effect of FL and FC on the savings behaviour of farmers.

The outcome of the study revealed that the majority of the Indian farmers exhibited poor levels of FL and FC. Of the total, 42.99% were found to save regularly. FL and FC were observed to play instrumental roles in steering the savings behaviour of the Indian farmers. Household size, financial shocks, gender, farm ownership, income, household financial decision-making process, religion and educational attainment have emerged to be significant predictors of the savings behaviour of Indian farmers.

The present study makes an original contribution to the extant literature by unfolding the savings behaviour of Indian farmers and the effect of FL and FC on such behaviour using a rich sample of 10,263 farmers for the first time.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personality traits (PTs) of individual investors on their investment intention (II). Further, to study the mediating role of overconfidence (OC) bias and financial literacy (FL) on the relationship between PTs and II.

The present study uses the quantitative approach for the data collection from the sample of 327 Indian investors investing in the stock market. The questionnaire was divided into segments to assess the investor’s PTs, OC, FL and II. The PT has been measured using the Big Five Personality Traits. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the reliability and validity of the constructs. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings of the study show that the PTs of an individual investor are associated with FL and II but insignificant with OC bias. Further, the FL and OC bias have a positive and significant influence on II. In addition, the mediation analysis showed that FL partly mediates the relationship between PTs and II.

The present study is helpful for financial companies, government, personal finance advisors and individual investors; they can keep in mind the behavior-related traits that can influence the investment decisions and design the portfolio accordingly. The policy-makers can implement programs on FL to enhance investment decisions in India.

This paper is unique that covers the mediating role of psychological bias, i.e. OC bias and FL, between the PTs and II of an Indian investor.

There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of Islamic financial literacy (IFL) while it is at the heart of our understanding of the overall financial system. To date, insufficient attention has been paid to Turkey, the Balkans and other potential Islamic finance hubs like Suriname. In fact, there have been no attempts to examine IFL in those regions or economies. The purpose of this paper is to test and validate the IFL scale developed by Dinc et al. (2021) in an international setting. By doing so, this study elaborates on possible antecedents and levels of IFL across countries and economic systems.

The design of the questionnaire used is based on the principles of Islamic finance and covers all the segments. The total number of collected observations is 3,579. This study uses the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to ascertain the factor structure and test the revised scale fit with the original form. Besides, IBM AMOS 25 Graphics is used for calculating the fit indexes for the scale.

The results from the CFA revealed that the scale has a good fit for its original and kept the four-dimensional structure. In addition, it also indicates that the predeveloped IFL scale is valid for different cultures, countries and individuals either having conventional or Islamic financial institutions preferences. Furthermore, results of empirical tests demonstrate that Turkey is significantly higher in Islamic financial awareness, whereas other countries' group is higher on all other subdimensions of the scale. On the other hand, female respondents indicate significantly higher levels of Islamic financial awareness, and male respondents show significantly higher levels of Islamic financial knowledge. Finally, the most prominent finding to emerge from the analysis is that the principles of Islamic finance are well accepted, except for some liberal views on the concept of “interest” (riba).

Because of the diverse demography of the collected sample observations, this revised scale has a homogeneous set of implications. This IFL scale can accurately measure the level of IFL attained by an individual, group, society or nation, as well as suggest necessary actions based on its four-dimensional structure.

This study tests the IFL scale by considering two key elements: increased sample size and vast geographical coverage. To ensure that the developed scale is universal, this study took into account more than 3,000 observations from 28 different countries. These amendments ensure the uniqueness of this paper and its originality.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a global humanitarian challenge. This scourge has impacted people from all walks of life as well as every economic sector and activity, from travel to automotives, hotels to banking, and supply chain to retail. The pandemic has affected not only physical and mental health but also financial health. Studies have examined the pandemic's economic impact, but very few have examined its impact on personal finances. Efforts to contain the pandemic's spread, such as lockdowns, have resulted in suspended business operations throughout the world that have intensified joblessness. To prepare and protect people from such unforeseen situations, financial education and planning are necessary. We attempt to expand the evidence on this issue by applying a structural equation modelling approach to identify the mediating role of financial literacy programs in preparing and protecting household wealth against sudden worldwide setbacks. The research design is descriptive and exploratory using snowball sampling technique. The data was collected through an internet survey. In total, 400 survey responses were obtained. After testing the measurement model for key validity dimensions, the hypothesised causal relationships are examined in several path models. The results indicated that coronavirus awareness exerts a direct or indirect influence on the financial health of individuals through financial literacy. We conclude that financial literacy has a full mediating effect on the personal finance of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings not only contributed to the need and understanding of financial literacy but also have managerial implications. Financial literacy programs provide investment advice and suggestions which are actionable and also work to help individuals to come out stronger in terms of knowledge and skill set when the COVID-19 crisis passes.

Despite a lot of developments in the financial markets, financial illiteracy is a main concern across the world and is directly associated with faulty financial decisions making. The situation is very alarming among a socially or economically marginalized section of society as they cannot afford to pay finance professionals for their wealth management. The objective of the study is to understand the level of financial literacy as well as its determinants among the marginalized section of society living in hilly areas.

The study is descriptive as well as empirical in design and based on primary data collected from the 300 scheduled tribe households of Himachal Pradesh a hilly state of India.

The study observed that financial literacy is very low among the scheduled tribes living, and their level of education, income, family system and Internet accessibility have a significant impact on their financial scores.

The outcome of the paper may be useful to design customized awareness programs, and financial products focusing on scheduled tribes living in far-flung areas so that they can get the benefits of market-driven financial products.

Financial awareness can help scheduled tribes in their financial inclusion thereby reducing poverty and inequality through informed financial decisions. Thus, the outcome if implemented can help in achieving the objective of inclusive growth.

No specific work has been done to explore the level as well as the determinants of financial literacy among the scheduled tribe households living in hill areas. This paper will fill this gap and contributes to the existing work on financial literacy and inclusion.

The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0008

This paper aims to propose a decision-making framework by investigating the impact of perceived risk and computer self-efficacy on the intention to use online stock trading. Furthermore, it demonstrates the mediation effect of attitude and perceived risk as well as the moderating effect of financial literacy.

An integration of two popular models, technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB), is used to provide a sound theoretical base and enhance the understanding of investors’ behaviour towards online trading platforms. The proposed hypothesised model was examined using structural equation modelling.

The results obtained from this study indicate that all variables, except subjective norms, had a significant impact on investors’ intention to trade online. Perceived risk was found to be a partial mediator between computer self-efficacy and the intention of investors. Finally, financial literacy was also found as a significant moderator for online trading intention of investors.

This study shows the significance of using the TAM and TPB together to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence an investor’s behaviour in adopting and using technology for online trading. The hybrid approach of TAM and TPB could be considered for a more nuanced and complete understanding of technology adoption and usage in risky affairs like investment decisions. Again, the significant moderating role of financial literacy provides a lance to look into the scope for improvements in investment decision-makings.

The paper develops an assessment framework for analysing the variables based on the hybrid approach for online trading intention in the context of a developing country.