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PublicationArticle (with peer review)

Gender differences in financial literacy: The role of stereotype threat

Abstract

Understanding why women display less financial literacy than men is crucial for developing policies to reduce gender inequalities and improve women’s financial behavior. In a series of studies, we investigate whether the observed gender gap in financial literacy can be identified in nonnumerical contexts, if it can be related to confidence in financial matters, and if it can be attributed to stereotype threat, which posits that inbuilt prejudices about gender and finance undermine performance among women in tasks involving finance. We utilized data from the Swedish Standardized Scholastic Aptitude Test (n = 40,662) to investigate if there is a greater difference in reading comprehension between men and women when reading about topics related to finance. Furthermore, we conducted large-scale online data collection (n = 1989), including a survey on financial vocabulary and an experiment that manipulated the salience of the financial content across conditions when assessing financial literacy. The results show that the observed gender gap in financial literacy is robust also in a nonnumerical financial contexts and that it can not be attributed to a difference in (displayed) confidence. Finally, mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of gender on financial literacy through financial anxiety suggesting that a stereotype threat for women in the financial domain contributes to the observed gender gap.

Tinghög, G., Ahmed, A., Barrafrem, K., Lind, T., Skagerlund, K., & Västfjäll, D. (2021). Gender differences in financial literacy: The role of stereotype threat. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 192, 405-416.

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Ratio Working Paper No. 389: Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers

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Published in

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Abstract

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Article (with peer review)

Competition and Voice in Public Education: Evidence from Sweden

Sebhatu, A., Wennberg, K., Lakomaa, E., & Brandén, M.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Education Finance and Policy, 1-40

Abstract

While numerous studies examine the effects of school competition on student performance, little research directly addresses a key critique of competition: its potential to negatively affect parental engagement and voice. We draw on Hirschman’s theory of voice to argue that voucher-based school competition increases opportunities for exit but may crowd out voice. To assess the causal effects of competition on parental voice, we employ a robust two-way fixed effects difference-in-differences framework, comparing municipalities in Sweden that introduced competition with those that did not. Our findings indicate that school complaints decline following the introduction of competition. This decrease in voice is driven by neither a decrease in problems in school nor by changes in teaching staff quality or attrition. This suggests that the decrease in complaints is driven not by an increase in school quality but rather by a substitution from voice to exit.

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Details

Author
Tinghög, G., Ahmed, A., Barrafrem, K., Lind, T., Skagerlund, K., & Västfjäll, D.
Publication year
2021
Published in

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 192, 405-416.