Comparative study on personal financial literacy between the United States and Japan: focus on the influence of the literacy on the understanding of mortgage repayments

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24730281
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Public finance/Monetary economics
• Research Institution: Nihon Fukushi University
• Principal Investigator: ENDO Hideki 日本福祉大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (10340283)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 金融リテラシー / 日米比較 / 金融に関する意思決定 / 貯蓄行動 / 住宅ローン / 変動金利

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigated two concerns on the basic financial knowledge (financial literacy) by comparisons between the U.S. and Japan. (1) Which factors do affect the difference of financial literacy between persons? (2) Is the literacy related to the successful handling of his/her household budget? We conducted web-based surveys on financial literacy from 2012 to 2014 in two countries, and found several results by statistical analyses. First, American has stronger self-confidence in their financial decision-making than Japanese, and the advantage is related to the difference of financial literacy between them. Next, the depth of understanding of easy questions on financial knowledge has a strong influence on person’s saving behavior in the U.S., whereas the elementary knowledge does not improve his/her saving behavior in Japan. Finally, American who has gotten a mortgage with an adjustable-rate mortgage after the housing market shrink from 2006 has significantly lack of knowledge.

Free Research Field

都市経済学