TY - JOUR
T1 - Schooling, numeracy, and wealth accumulation
T2 - A study involving an agrarian population
AU - Estrada-Mejia, Catalina
AU - Peters, Ellen
AU - Dieckmann, Nathan F.
AU - Zeelenberg, Marcel
AU - De Vries, Marieke
AU - Baker, David P.
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Accumulating wealth is one of the main concerns for consumers. Higher education is widely associated with higher wealth, but the underlying reasons for this association remain unclear. Using data from a field study conducted with 218 adults in agrarian communities in Peru's Andean highlands, we explored the extent to which education, non-numeric fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and numeracy skills were related to wealth. Wealth was measured using data on asset ownership (e.g., owning a fridge) and housing characteristics (e.g., toilet facilities). Structural equation modeling revealed that the level of schooling was associated with greater numeracy as well as greater non-numeric fluid and crystallized intelligence; only greater numeracy was associated with greater wealth. Our findings are consistent with the idea that education is linked with financial outcomes, at least in part, through the enhancement of cognitive skills, particularly numeracy that then leads to greater wealth accumulation.
AB - Accumulating wealth is one of the main concerns for consumers. Higher education is widely associated with higher wealth, but the underlying reasons for this association remain unclear. Using data from a field study conducted with 218 adults in agrarian communities in Peru's Andean highlands, we explored the extent to which education, non-numeric fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and numeracy skills were related to wealth. Wealth was measured using data on asset ownership (e.g., owning a fridge) and housing characteristics (e.g., toilet facilities). Structural equation modeling revealed that the level of schooling was associated with greater numeracy as well as greater non-numeric fluid and crystallized intelligence; only greater numeracy was associated with greater wealth. Our findings are consistent with the idea that education is linked with financial outcomes, at least in part, through the enhancement of cognitive skills, particularly numeracy that then leads to greater wealth accumulation.
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U2 - 10.1111/joca.12294
DO - 10.1111/joca.12294
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077906869
SN - 0022-0078
VL - 54
SP - 648
EP - 674
JO - Journal of Consumer Affairs
JF - Journal of Consumer Affairs
IS - 2
ER -