National accounts of Caribbean countries: methodologies, sources and quality, and a comparative Caribbean study

Includes bibliography

Good practices in monitoring and reporting on the Millennium Development Goals: National lessons from Latin America

Includes bibliography

The financial protection impact of the public health system and private insurance in Brazil

Includes bibliography

Is financial literacy an economic good?

Financial literacy (fl) is generally regarded as an economic good which individuals choose whether or not to consume depending on how much of a contribution they expect it to make to the quality of their financial decision-making. This construct has not, however, been tested empirically. In this study we analyse variations in fl on the part of individuals who experience major life-cycle events that show up in the data and that can be assumed to have repercussions on their personal finances. The analysis of a panel made up of approximately 12,000 people indicates that there is a correlation between 13 of the 17 selected life events and financial decisions, but only one of those events (job training) is associated with a change in fl. This evidence casts doubt upon the conceptualization of fl as an economic good and is in line with a series of other studies that, for one reason or another, have questioned the soundness of the current conceptual approach to FL.