Selim Aren

A LITERATURE REVIEW ON FINANCIAL LITERACY

Based on prior research, this paper provides insights regarding financial literacy. Amidst this research, some similarities and contrarinesses have been manifested by juxtaposing this literature in terms of (1) definitional issues on financial literacy, (2) its probable endegoeneity, (3) its determinants and consequences established by the extant research, (4)other probable estimators of financial decision making which would individually make differences aside from financial literacy, (5)manner of measuring it (i.e., subjectiveobjective measures versus proxies, (6) targeted population for finding evidence. This study indicates that (i) there is a need of a common and well-structured definition of financial literacy due to the interchangeably usage of various concepts, all of which mean the financial knowledge level of individual, (ii) objective measures seem to work best in measuring financial literacy among individuals, (iii) researchers should reconsider about proxies for financial literacy in the event that individual effect of proxy may be difficult to be seperated, (iv) it is better to consider that financial literacy may be potentially endogenous variable rather than the exogenous one, (v) studies should present an explicit explanation how the relationship between financial literacy and research problem (e.g., investment preferences) occurred, (vi) relative impact of financial literacy should be preemptively examined by incorporating other potential factors influencing financial decision making into research models. Keywords: Financial literacy, financial behavior, subjective-objective financial literacy measures

Drivers of firms’ debt ratios: evidence from Taiwanese and Turkish firms

This study investigates the drivers of debt ratios of the firms listed on the stock markets of two different countries, namely Turkey, a developing country and Taiwan, a newly developed country. The factors impacting short-term, long-term, and total debts are selected as EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Tax), ROE (Return on Equity), sales, total assets, fixed assets-total assets ratio, and depreciation-total assets ratio. The findings indicate that there are differences between Turkish and Taiwanese firms in terms of the drivers’ impacts on the debt structures of the firms. The proposed regression models work better on the data collected from Taiwan as compared to the data from Turkey. Possible reasons are discussed in the final section.

Do the effects of individual factors on financial risk-taking behavior diversify with financial literacy?

Purpose This study aims to examine the roles of individual factors on risky investment intention as an indicator of risky financial behavior. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from a survey instrument and composed of 496 individuals’ responses. The authors exploited structural equation modelling and multigroup structural equation modelling for direct and indirect effects, respectively. Findings Results indicate that emotional intelligence and locus of control have a positive impact on financial risk-taking, while risk aversion in general has the negative one. Although financial literacy does not have a direct effect on risky financial behavior, it has important role as a moderator variable, interacting with external locus of control. Originality/value The authors expect this study to contribute into behavioral finance literature in two ways. First, they investigate joint and relative effects of four major factors (i.e. emotional intelligence, locus of control, risk aversion in general and financial literacy) identified in the literature on financial risk-taking of individual investors. Each belongs to a different venue in an individual’s psyche and therefore is expected to influence financial risk-taking through different mechanisms. However, the research arguing their roles on the financial risky behavior directly is very limited. Investigating their individual effects is likely to provide unique insights into our understanding of risky financial behavior. Second, the authors also posit and manifest that the effects of the first three of the aforementioned factors on risk-taking intentions are moderated by financial literacy. This finding is likely to provide rather valuable insights pertaining to the emergence of risk-taking behaviors and may shed light on the root reasons behind equivocal findings in previous research regarding the effect of each factor.