FINANCIAL LITERACY: A STUDY USING THE APPLICATION OF ITEM RESPONSE THEORY

• Autor(a) principal: Nascimento, João Carlos Hipólito Bernardes do
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Macedo, Marcelo Álvaro da Silva, Siqueira, José Ricardo Maia de, Bernardes, Juliana Reis
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Administração (São Paulo. Online)
• Texto Completo: https://raep.emnuvens.com.br/raep/article/view/341
• topic: financial literacy; latent skills; Item Response Theory; alfabetização financeira; habilidades latentes; Teoria de Resposta ao Item

This study aimed to measure the level of financial literacy of Business Administration course students at a federal Higher Education Institution (HEI). To this end, a survey was conducted on 307 students. The Item Response Theory (IRT) was employed for data analysis and the findings support the conclusion that the students show a low level of financial literacy, as well as the existence of a conservative investment profile among students. This scenario, in line with previous empirical studies conducted in the Brazil, is worrying given the potential negative externalities resulting from poor financial decisions, especially those related to home financing and retirement preparations. This study contributes to the empirical evaluation, within the national context, of the use of IRT in estimating financial literacy, and shows that it is, indeed, an important methodological option in the estimation of this latent trait. Furthermore, this enables financial knowledge to be compared through consistent and reliable means, using studies, populations, realities and separate programs.