Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • July 2014
  • Article
  • Review of Financial Studies

Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes

By: Shawn A. Cole, Anna Paulson and Gauri Kartini Shastry
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Household financial decisions are important for household welfare, economic growth and financial stability. Yet, our understanding of the determinants of financial decision-making is limited. Exploiting exogenous variation in state compulsory schooling laws in both standard and two-sample instrumental variable strategies, we show education increases financial market participation, measured by investment income and equities ownership, while dramatically reducing the probability that an individual declares bankruptcy, experiences a foreclosure, or is delinquent on a loan. Further results and a simple calibration suggest the result is driven by changes in savings or investment behavior, rather than simply increased labor earnings.

Keywords

Personal Finance; Investment; Decisions; Behavior; Financial Condition

Citation

Cole, Shawn A., Anna Paulson, and Gauri Kartini Shastry. "Smart Money? The Effect of Education on Financial Outcomes." Review of Financial Studies 27, no. 7 (July 2014): 2022–2051.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Shawn A. Cole

Finance
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?

    By: Shawn A. Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
    • May 2022
    • Management Science

    Can Gambling Increase Savings? Empirical Evidence on Prize-Linked Savings Accounts

    By: Shawn A. Cole, Benjamin Iverson and Peter Tufano
    • October 2021 (Revised July 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Engine No. 1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil

    By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
More from the Authors
  • What Do Impact Investors Do Differently? By: Shawn A. Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
  • Can Gambling Increase Savings? Empirical Evidence on Prize-Linked Savings Accounts By: Shawn A. Cole, Benjamin Iverson and Peter Tufano
  • Engine No. 1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College