High School Curriculum and Financial Outcomes: The Impact of Mandated Personal Finance and Mathematics Courses
利用美国各州强制高中开设个人理财和数学课程的政策差异，研究发现数学课程能改善财务决策，而个人理财课程无效。
Financial literacy and cognitive capabilities are convincingly linked to the quality of financial decision-making. Yet, there is little evidence that education intended to improve financial decision-making is successful. Using plausibly exogenous variation in exposure to state-mandated personal finance and mathematics high school courses, affecting millions of students, this paper answers the question “Can high school graduation requirements impact financial outcomes?” The answer is yes, although not via traditional personal finance courses, which we find have no effect on financial outcomes. Instead, we find additional mathematics training leads to greater financial market participation, investment income, and better credit management, including fewer foreclosures.