The thesis "Over-Indebtedness in the Czech Republic: Problem Analysis and Policy Alternatives" deals with the issue of over-indebtedness of households with regards to consumer loans, specifically in the Czech Republic. Over-indebtedness is currently a very real and serious issue. The author attempts to tackle what is a relatively complex issue. The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that over-indebtedness is a significant problem and analyse the myriad factors that contribute to it. Finally, possible solutions to the problem are explored. The author exhibits a variety of data to measure over-indebtedness in addition to determining the various causes, namely individual economic factors, such as sudden unemployment, and financial imprudence, which can be attributed to individual psychology or low financial literacy. Additionally, the unfair and even loan-sharking practices adopted by some loan providers and brokers along with the problematic process of debt enforcement, which contribute to over-indebtedness are described in detail. Based on the identified drivers, the thesis proposes specific tools to address the problem, with particular emphasis on regulating providers, and analyses their advantages and disadvantages. Further to the regulatory instruments, the thesis also stresses the need to...

Politische Entscheidungsträger sind zunehmend besorgt über die hohe und steigende Einkommens- und Vermögensungleichheit weltweit (Kanbur, 2019; Wood, 2018). Ein wesentlicher Faktor ist die ungleiche Verteilung von Bildung und produktiven Fähigkeiten innerhalb von Gesellschaften sowie zwischen Ländern (Martin, 2018; Stijn et al., 2019). Die Förderung von benachteiligten Bevölkerungsgruppen neue Kompetenzen zu erwerben ist daher ein wichtiger politischer Hebel zur Bekämpfung von Ungleichheiten (OECD, 2019). Diese Dissertation liefert neue Erkenntnisse darüber, wie Trainingsmaßnahmen gestaltet werden können, um das wirtschaftliche Wohlergehen von Teilnehmer effektiv zu verbessern. Auf der Grundlage kontrafaktischer Wirkungsevaluierungen wird in den vier Kapiteln die Effektivität von Trainingsmaßnahmen in drei zentralen Politikbereichen analysiert: berufliche Fähigkeiten, Unternehmertum und finanzielle Bildung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, wie wichtig es ist, zielgerichtete und maßgeschneiderte Maßnahmen zu entwickeln, welche gleichzeitig auf verschiedene Bedürfnisse, Einschränkungen und Chancen von geringer-qualifizierten, benachteiligten Personen eingehen. / Policymakers are increasingly concerned about high and rising inequality of earnings and wealth globally (Kanbur, 2019; Wood, 2018). One key driver is the unequal distribution of productive skills within societies and across countries (Martin, 2018; Stijn et al., 2019). Improving opportunities for disadvantaged population groups to acquire new skills, therefore, presents an important policy lever to tackle inequalities (OECD, 2019). This thesis provides new evidence on how to design skills trainings that effectively improve participants’ economic well-being. Based on counterfactual impact evaluations, the four chapters assess the effectiveness of training pro-grams in three core policy areas: vocational skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. The findings demonstrate the importance of designing well-targeted and tailored interventions that simultaneously address the multi-faceted needs, constraints, and opportunities faced by lower-skilled, disadvantaged individuals.

Titel: Att spara eller inte spara? - En studie om universitetsstudenters sparande och vad som påverkar sparbeteendet Författare: Edvin Pettersson och Sandra Trinh Handledare: Camilla Strömbäck Bakgrund: Enligt livscykelhypotesen är det irrationellt för studenter att spara pengar. Däremot utifrån ett riskhanteringsperspektiv finns det anledningar till att spara vilket inte överensstämmer med livscykelhypotesen. Utöver denna diskrepans har tidigare forskning visat att det finns flera faktorer som kan påverka en individs sparande. Dock har tidigare forskning ofta varit kvantitativ och enbart fokuserat på hur en faktor påverkar sparande men inte om faktorerna påverkar varandra eller givit en bred bild över området. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka svenska universitetsstudenters sparande och behovet av det utifrån ett riskhanteringsperspektiv, samt identifiera, analysera och systematisera vilka faktorer som påverkar sparandet. Genomförande: För att besvara studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med tio svenska universitetsstudenter. Utifrån tidigare forskning uppmärksammades fem faktorer som påverkar sparande. Dessa faktorer låg sedan till grund för intervjuguiden och analysmodellen som skapades. Slutsats: Utifrån ett riskhanteringsperspektiv är det rationellt för svenska universitetsstudenter att spara. Det har gjort att de kan hantera likviditetskriser samt bygga upp ett eget kapital för att kunna ta lån i framtiden. Mental bokföring och finansiell bildning har gjort det enklare för studenterna att hantera sina självkontrollsproblem vilket har möjliggjort att de kan spara. / Title: To save or not to save? - A study about university students’ saving and what affects the saving behavior Authors: Edvin Pettersson and Sandra Trinh Supervisor: Camilla Strömbäck Background: According to the life cycle hypothesis, it is irrational for university students to save money. However, it might be necessary for university students to have a savings buffer to be able to manage liquidity risks and to afford more expensive purchases. Previous research has shown that there are several factors that affect a person’s saving behavior, but it has yet to investigate how different factors work together to affect the saving behavior. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine Swedish university students’ savings and the need for from a risk management perspective, as well as identify, analyze, and systematize which factors affect the saving behavior. Completion: To answer the research questions we have completed semi-structural interviews with ten Swedish university students. This study has used a qualitative method to be able to examine how students reflect on the needs to have savings and to identify if different factors work together to affect the university students’ saving behavior. From previous research we have identified five factors that affect a person’s saving behavior and these factors have been the basis for the creation of the interview guide and the model of analysis. Conclusion: From a risk management perspective it is rational for Swedish university students to save money to be able to manage their liquidity risks and build up their equity to enable loans in the future. Both mental accounting and financial literacy have been helpful for the students to practice self-control, which has made it possible for the students to save money.

Диссертация посвящена повышению клиентоориентированности коммерческих банков в условиях нестабильной внешней среды. Рассмотрены теоретические аспекты лояльности и клиентоориентированности, проведено исследование маркетинговых инструментов, направленных на достижение поставленной цели. Также разработан проект с применением инструментов бережливого производства. В ходе исследования был создан поэтапный алгоритм, объединивший все составляющие для реализации истинно клиентоориентированного подхода в организации. / The dissertation is devoted to increasing the customer focus of commercial banks in an unstable environment. The theoretical aspects of loyalty and customer focus are considered, a study of marketing tools aimed at achieving this goal is carried out. A project using lean manufacturing tools was also developed. During the study, a phased algorithm was created that combined all the components for implementing a truly customer-oriented approach in the organization.

This research examined 50 financial education programs within the state of Florida. The purpose of the research was to survey financial education program providers to see how they are evolving to meet the sociological, psychological and behavioral factors that affect individual’s financial decision making. In constructing the survey I referenced articles, journals and publications regarding how certain factors can affect an individual and their ability to apply financial education to their daily life. This review of previous research showed that tailored education, to determine a participant’s means, ability and goals, is the best way to help participants achieve financial independence. In this literature review no specific details were found on how programs are evolving or how existing program offerings are filling the need for tailored financial education. This topic is important because financial decisions that people make will not only affect current generations but also future generations. I contacted 50 agencies with a 27 question survey regarding their basic organizational structure, funding, program details, success determinants, primary program goals and focus, and marketing strategies. 36% of those contacted, or 18 organizations, responded. All responses were compiled and compared to determine relationships among program structures, offerings, and goals. The primary findings were that most organizations opened after 2000, have budgets under $100,000 funded primarily by two main sources, and their main goals are to provide basic knowledge and education to help participants improve financial decisions. In addition, most programs conduct a pre-post survey or get participant feedback to evaluate programs and use the number of participants at meetings as their main success factor. The majority of programs do not collect financial information, however they provide one-on-one counseling to focus on tailoring education to 501+ participants per year. Recommendations for future research are to increase the number of respondents, look deeper into funding requirements, the program lifecycle, marketing strategies employed and their effectiveness, and what specific financial education topics programs are addressing. This will add to existing research by providing a broader view of the financial education landscape and help programs to evolve to meet the need for tailored education.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the investment behaviour of women during the current recession and how demographic factors impact psychological biases related to investment behaviour. This research aims to examine the impact of age, marital status, education, income, cultural background and financial literacy on various biases such as overconfidence, confirmation bias, herding behaviour, representativeness bias, anchoring bias, risk- and loss aversion.  A questionnaire was conducted to collect data, resulting in a dataset of 558 observations. Using a deductive approach, based on theories of thirty-six hypotheses was tested using ordered logistic regression analysis. The primary findings revealed multiple connections between the demographic profiles of female investors and their investment behaviours, concerning psychological biases. Furthermore, this paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the relationship between investment behaviour and economic recession and provides stakeholders with valuable insights to tailor their communications and strategies to engage female investors. By analysing existing behavioural finance theories and empirical data, the study aims to improve understanding of women's investment preferences and attitudes across different demographic groups. Finally, the study aims to increase women's interest in managing their wealth and improving their financial decisions.

Denna studie ämnar att undersöka vad som skiljer sig mellan unga kvinnors och mäns finansiella tankesätt i form av mottagligheten för kognitiva snedvridningar, samt huruvida dessa snedvridningar är relaterade till sparbeteende. Som följd av en mansdominerad finansmarknad tillsammans med andra faktorer har kvinnors och mäns ägande genom åren, och fram tills idag skiljt sig åt. Att kvinnor sparar mindre än män, vilket visar sig redan vid ung ålder, ger avtryck i deras framtida ekonomi. Det förstärker även fördomar om kvinnors finansiella beteenden vilket kan bli en bromskloss för kvinnors avancemang på finansmarknaden. “Girl math” är ett fenomen som trendar på sociala medier och handlar om kvinnors finansiella kognitiva snedvridningar och förstärker befintliga fördomar. Frågan som vi ställer oss är hur väl dessa girl math-påståenden om kvinnors finansiella beteende stämmer överens med verkligheten, är girl math sanning eller konsekvens? De kognitiva snedvridningar som undersöks i studien är mental accounting, sunk cost fallacy och opportunity cost neglect. För att studera detta utformade vi en onlinestudie riktad till individer inom åldersspannet 18-30 år. Deltagarna fick svara på frågor kopplade till tre kognitiva snedvridningarna som är framträdande inom girl math samt deras sparbeteende. Tillvägagångssättet för analysen var genom en OLS-regression med flera förklaringsvariabler mot de beroende variablerna. Resultaten indikerar att unga kvinnor är mer mottagliga för mental accounting jämfört med unga män, något som går i linje med tidigare forskning. Däremot kan variabeln kön inte förklara mottagligheten för sunk cost fallacy eller opportunity cost neglect. Det finns inte heller något signifikant samband mellan mottagligheten för våra tre kognitiva snedvridningar och könsskillnader i sparande. Våra resultat mynnar ut i att fenomenet girl math delvis är sanning som troligen uppstått som konsekvens av samhällets finansiella normer och stereotyper. / This study aims to investigate the differences between young women's and men's financial mindsets in terms of susceptibility to behavioral biases, and whether these biases are related to savings behavior. As a result of a male-dominated financial market, along with other factors, women's and men's ownership has diverged over the years, and until today. The fact that women save less than men, which is already evident at a young age, has an impact on their future finances. It also reinforces prejudices about women's financial behavior, which can become a barrier to women's advancement in the financial market. “Girl math” is a phenomenon trending on social media that addresses women's financial behavioral biases and reinforces existing prejudices. The question we ask is how well do these girl math claims about women's financial behavior match reality, is girl math truth or consequence? The behavioral biases examined in the study are mental accounting, sunk cost fallacy and opportunity cost neglect. To study this, we designed an online study aimed at individuals in the age range 18-30 years. Participants were asked to answer questions related to three behavioral biases prominent in girl math and questions about their savings behavior. The approach to the analysis is through an OLS regression with several explanatory variables against the dependent variables. The results indicate that young women are more susceptible to mental accounting compared to young men, which is in line with previous research. However, the variable gender cannot explain the susceptibility to sunk cost fallacy or opportunity cost neglect . There is also no significant relationship between susceptibility to the three behavioral biases and gender differences in savings. Our results conclude that the phenomenon of girl math is partly true and has probably arisen as a consequence of societal financial norms and stereotypes.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:33:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcos_Vinicius_Godoi_Milan.pdf: 518316 bytes, checksum: 61b59ff897148b678a62ffb9f197f66d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-27 / The absence of financial education throughout the K-12 experience results in most undergraduate students lacking the financial literacy needed to make better financial decisions. Studies by the OECD and Serasa Consumidor, together with other studies cited throughout this work, show there is still a long way to go to implement a strong policy for Financial Education. This study assesses the levels of financial literacy of the undergraduate students at FECAP using a questionnaire similar to the one developed by the OECD. The survey has been carried out with 564 students who attend the evening courses and are either in the first or in the last semester of undergraduate degree programs. I investigate the relations between sociodemographic variables and courses and the level of Financial Literacy. The results indicate that FECAP s students have a high level of Financial Literacy up to 2.39 points in a scale whose maximum is 3 points. That represents a performance of 79%. This result is 19 percentage points above that of a study conducted by Serasa Consumidor and IBOPE (2014), which found that individuals with higher education had a performance of 60% . Students in the senior year of college have more Financial Knowledge than the freshmen. Students of Accounting, who comprise most of the sample with 166 individuals, presented the best results regarding Financial Knowledge.This study indicates that sociodemographic factors, such as gender, age and religion are related to Financial Literacy / A aus??ncia de t??picos relacionados a Alfabetiza????o Financeira na educa????o b??sica faz com que boa parte dos jovens cheguem ao ensino superior sem a bagagem de Alfabetiza????o Financeira necess??ria para lidar com as finan??as cotidianas. Estudos da OECD, Serasa Consumidor, al??m de da literatura citada ao longo deste estudo, apontam ainda um longo caminho a ser percorrido no que se refere ?? implanta????o de uma forte pol??tica de ensino em Alfabetiza????o Financeira. O presente trabalho mensura a Alfabetiza????o Financeira e seus fatores indicadores (Conhecimento e Comportamento Financeiros e Atitude) de alunos dos cursos da FECAP, em pesquisa aplicada a 564 etudantes do per??odo noturno, do primeiro e ??ltimo anos de gradua????o, com base no question??rio desenvolvido pela OECD. Tamb??m s??o investigadas as rela????es entre vari??veis sociodemogr??ficas e os cursos com os n??veis de Alfabetiza????o Financeira. Os resultados apontam que os alunos da FECAP possuem um elevado n??vel de Alfabetiza????o Financeira, chegando a 2,39 pontos em uma escala com pontua????o m??xima de 3,00 pontos, o que representa um aproveitamento de 79%. Este resultado est?? 19 pontos percentuais acima de uma pesquisa realizada pela Serasa Consumidor e IBOPE (2014), em que foi verificado um aproveitamento de 60% em indiv??duos com curso superior. A an??lise realizada mostra que os alunos dos ??ltimos anos t??m maior n??vel de Alfabetiza????o Financeira que os dos primeiros anos. O estudo mostra ainda que fatores sociodemogr??ficos, como g??nero, faixa et??ria e religi??o est??o relacionados ao n??vel de Alfabetiza????o Financeira

This study assessed the link between financial literacy and levels of debt among junior permanent bank employees. Based on the mixed purposive and simple random sampling approach, a structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a sample of 275 junior permanent bank employee participants. Frequencies, descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression techniques were applied to analyse data using the SPSS 23 statistical package. The Cronbach’s alpha criterion and Keiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy results indicate that the research instrument’s items were statistically reliable and statistically valid. The descriptive statistics results on the financial behaviour and attitude dimension indicate that permanent junior bank employees on average pay reasonable attention to their financial affairs. The classification summary statistics indicate that financial literacy and financial behaviour and attitudes were significant predictors of the debt level. The Nagelkerke R-square indicates that some significant amount of overall variation in debt level was accounted for by financial literacy and financial behaviour and attitudes. Based on the odds ratios results, a statistically significant relationship between financial literacy and debt level was found in the study. Conversely, the estimated odds ratios results indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between financial behaviour and attitudes, and the level of debt / Business Management / M.Com. (Business Management)