The Role of Financial Literacy in Modern Finance

A special issue of Journal of Risk and Financial Management (ISSN 1911-8074). This special issue belongs to the section "Economics and Finance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 828

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Mike Cottrell College of Business, University of North Georgia, Gainesville, GA 30504, USA
Interests: empirical corporate finance

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mike Cottrell College of Business, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA 30597, USA
Interests: corporate finance; financial institutions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of JRFM, dedicated to the role of financial literacy in modern finance.

Rational behavior is a crucial assumption in financial theory; however, as economic agents are human, their decision-making may be flawed due to psychological and behavioral biases. Predictions of financial outcomes need to be corrected for these biases, and the corrections will be larger to the extent that decision makers lack financial literacy. 

It is difficult to overstate the importance of financial literacy, as it contributes to individuals’ and households’ economic mobility, businesses’ survival rates and value maximization, and the viability of public policy. These outcomes combine to have a non-negligible effect on market behavior and the overall functioning of the economy.

This Special Issue will extend the existing literature by exploring how financial literacy and financial education influence individual and household decision-making, corporate and institutional financial well-being, financial policy, market behavior, and the overall functioning of economies.

Topics of interest include the following:

  • Individual and household decision-making: the impact of financial literacy and education on individual and household behavior, including saving, borrowing, investment, and retirement planning.
  • Corporate and institution financial well-being and financial policy: the role of financial literacy and education in shaping corporate and institutional financial decisions, governance, and policies.
  • Market behavior: the impact of financial literacy and education on market behavior, such as price movements, market efficiency, and investor sentiment.
  • Overall functioning of economies: the effect of financial literacy and education on the broader financial system, labor market, and innovation as well as technology.

Dr. Minxing Sun
Dr. Maryna Murdock
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Risk and Financial Management is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • financial literacy
  • financial education
  • individual and household decision-making
  • corporate and institution financial well-being
  • market behavior
  • overall functioning of economies

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 1338 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Consumer Empowerment: Insights into the Role of Rationality When Making Financial Investment Decisions
by Abhishek Sharma, Chandana Hewege and Chamila Perera
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18020106 - 18 Feb 2025
Viewed by 595
Abstract
With an avalanche of market manipulations and unethical tactics in the Australian financial industry, the empowerment levels of female Australian consumers when making financial investment decisions are highly questionable. Through the theoretical lens of a utilitarian perspective, financial investment decisions are often built [...] Read more.
With an avalanche of market manipulations and unethical tactics in the Australian financial industry, the empowerment levels of female Australian consumers when making financial investment decisions are highly questionable. Through the theoretical lens of a utilitarian perspective, financial investment decisions are often built on the pillars of trust, security, and assurance, which allow consumers to make decisions rationally and gain empowerment when making these decisions. However, due to the widespread manipulations prevailing in Australian financial markets, the role of rationality and its influence on consumer empowerment remain understudied. Based on this context, this paper uncovers the association between how each stage of rational decision-making (RDM) (i.e., demand identification, information search, and the evaluation of alternatives) influences the consumer power (i.e., consumer resistance and consumer influence) of female Australian consumers when making financial investment decisions. In doing so, this study employs a quantitative approach, whereby the proposed conceptual framework is tested among 357 female Australian consumers to understand their decision-making power in the presence of heightened situations of market manipulation in the financial industry. The results show that information search has a significant positive relationship with consumer influence and consumer resistance when making financial investment decisions. Additionally, the findings suggest that female Australian consumers should not only rely on individual-based sources of power but also have exposure to network-based sources of power to gain empowerment when making financial investment decisions. Lastly, it is suggested that government bodies, financial institutions, and regulatory authorities should not only implement financial literacy programs but also promote gender diversity across organisations to encourage women’s empowerment (i.e., Goal 5 (SDGs)—Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Women and Girls). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Financial Literacy in Modern Finance)
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