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What Explains the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy? The Role of Household Decision Making

  1. RAQUEL FONSECA1,
  2. KATHLEEN J. MULLEN2,
  3. GEMA ZAMARRO3,
  4. JULIE ZISSIMOPOULOS4

Article first published online: 5 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2011.01221.x

Issue

Journal of Consumer Affairs

Journal of Consumer Affairs

Volume 46, Issue 1, pages 90–106, Spring 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

FONSECA, R., MULLEN, K. J., ZAMARRO, G. and ZISSIMOPOULOS, J. (2012), What Explains the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy? The Role of Household Decision Making. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 46: 90–106. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2011.01221.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Raquel Fonseca is Associate Professor at Universite du Quebec a Montreal and Affiliate Adjunct at RAND (fonseca.raquel@uqam.ca)

  2. 2

    Kathleen Mullen is Economist at RAND (kmullen@rand.org)

  3. 3

    Gema Zamarro is Economist at RAND and Professor of Economics at Pardee RAND Graduate School of Public Policy (gzamarro@rand.org)

  4. 4

    Julie Zissimopoulos is Associate Director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and Research Associate Professor at University of Southern California (zissimop@healthpolicy.usc.edu).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 MAR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 5 JAN 2012

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Using newly collected data from the RAND American Life Panel, we examine potential explanations for the gender gap in financial literacy, including the role of marriage and who within a couple makes the financial decisions. Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition reveals the majority of the gender gap in financial literacy is not explained by differences in the characteristics of men and women—but rather differences in coefficients, or how literacy is produced. We find that financial decision making of couples is not centralized in one spouse although it is sensitive to the relative education level of spouses.

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