Fed/GFLEC Financial Literacy Seminar Series

September 20, 2018

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Seminar I | The Impact of School-Based Financial Education on
High School Students and their Teachers: Experimental
Evidence from Peru

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Verónica Frisancho

Senior Research Economist, Inter-American Development Bank


FinLit Talks: Interviews with Financial Literacy Thought Leaders

LOCATION

The George Washington University
Science and Engineering Hall, B1270
800 22nd St NW

Bio: Verónica Frisancho

Verónica Frisancho is a senior research economist in the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Pennsylvania State University in 2012, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru.

Verónica’s work can best be described as applied microeconomics, and her main field of specialization is Development. Her research in these areas includes an emphasis on education, labor markets in developing countries, and financial inclusion.

Abstract

Using data from a randomized controlled trial in 300 public high schools in Peru, this paper studies the potential of school-based financial education programs for youth. The intervention improves students’ and teachers’ financial knowledge by 0.14 SD and 0.32 SD, respectively. The impact of the intervention also extends to socioemotional traits and behavior, as sizable positive impacts on self-control and consumption habits among students are identified. Teachers in the treatment group become more impulsive and risk averse, and they are more likely to save (9 percentage points) and to save formally (14 percentage points).