Gen Z and financial education: Evidence from a randomized control trial in the South of Italy

Abstract

Leading institutions are promoting several financial literacy initiatives worldwide, yet few of them are still measuring their impact on behavior. Following the current debate on the upcoming mandatory financial education implementation in Italy, this paper provides evidence of the consequences of financial education for Gen Zers’ decision-making. Specifically, we focus on the Bank of Italy's booklets initiative to measure the impact of financial education on intertemporal choices in a middle school in the South of Italy. Through a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) and eliciting time preferences with an incentivized task, we find robust evidence that enhancing financial literacy among Gen Zers significantly improves the quality of decision-making and the consistency of intertemporal choices.