Assessing gender gaps in financial knowledge and self-confidence: Evidence from international data

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we use internationally comparable microdata to assess gender differentials in objective financial knowledge and self-confidence in own financial competencies. We find significant differences in the number of correct answers and “Don t know/Refused” responses to basic financial questions between women and men. Furthermore, we provide first international evidence of gender gaps in financial knowledge overconfidence and underconfidence. Results from nonlinear Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions highlight that most of these gaps remain unexplained by differences in observed characteristics and may be due instead to unobserved behavioural and psychological traits and to cultural and social norms about gender roles in financial decision-making.