The Impact of Personal Financial Literacy on the Choice of Lending Channel by Vietnamese Householders Who Just Escaped Poverty

Abstract

Purpose: The Newly-Escaped-Poverty-List householders (NEPLH) in Vietnam served as the survey subjects for this study, which sought to determine the impact of "Personal Financial Literacy" on "The Probability of Using Lending Services of Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (P_VBSP)" and "The Probability of Using Informal Private Lending Services (P_ILC)".

Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 186 respondents, by structured online questionnaire with convenient non-probability sampling technique.  Aspects of personal financial literacy (FL_i) such as personal financial knowledge (FL₁), personal financial skills (FL₂), personal financial attitude (FL₃), and personal financial behavior (FL₄) are measured. When respondents were divided into groups based on subgroup criteria (CV_j), such as gender, age, marital status, role in the family, career, education level, religion, and number of years since being removed from the list of poor households, ANOVA techniques were used to examine differences in various aspects of personal financial literacy. The impact of FL_i and subgroup variables (CV_j) on P_VBSP and P_ILC was assessed using the binary logistic regression analysis technique.

Findings: Research results show that  there is a statistical difference in the average score of FL₁, FL₂, FL₃ and FL₄. The research findings also show that FL₂, FL₄, and "Career Status – CAR" have a positive impact on P_VBSP, while "Aged group - AGE", "Education level - EDU", and "Number of years since being removed from the list of poor households - YEAR" have a negative impact on P_VBSP. Meanwhile, the P_ILC is positive influenced by the AGE factor and moves in the opposite direction of FL₂, FL₄, EDU, and YEAR.

Research, Practical & Social implications: The research findings provide the basis for governance implications as well as policy recommendations to promote financial literacy among the NEPLH in Vietnam, encouraging them access policy lending services from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, and at the same time help them stay away from informal private lending services, thereby helping them to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable economic development family.

Originality/value: A theoretical framework for personal finance literacy, including (i) financial knowledge, (ii) financial attitude, (iii) financial skills, and (iv) financial behavior, has been developed by the authors after reviewing earlier studies. At the same time, it is more significant to measure financial literacy by objective assessment than relying on the subjective self-assessment of each respondent in the context of actual study in Vietnam. In the model analyzing the influence of personal financial literacy on the decision of Newly-Escaped-Poverty-List householders in choosing the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies or Informal Private Credit Channels, the authors also took into account additional factors including gender, age group, marital status, role in the family, career, education level, religion, and number of years since being removed from the list of poor households.