Edufin Research Papers
This page publishes the papers of the Committee drawn up starting in 2024.
Edufin Research Paper n. 6 “Gender Differences in Pension Investment: The Role of Biased Advice”
Authors : Claudia Curi, Andreas Dibiasi, Matteo Ploner, Mirco Tonin Year : 2026 Abstract : We study whether gender-biased financial advice contributes to the gender gap in pension wealth. Using administrative records from four private pension funds in Italy, we document that women are ceteris paribus 8 percentage points less likely than men to choose stock-focused investment lines at the time of enrollment. To assess whether advisory behavior contributes to this gap, we conduct a vignette-based survey experiment among pension advisors affiliated to the four funds, randomly varying the gender of otherwise identical prospective 25-year-old clients. Advisors are 22 percentage points less likely to recommend stock-oriented portfolios to female clients, even after conditioning on advisors’ beliefs about relevant client characteristics. We further show that a simple information intervention that makes advisors aware of the documented gender bias eliminates this gap in the experimental setting. Linking advisors to real clients in the administrative data, we demonstrate that the gender gap in actual investment choices shrinks by approximately 60% during the five months following the intervention. This evidence suggests that gender bias in financial advice is largely implicit and that low-cost informational feedback to advisors can meaningfully reduce gender disparities in retirement wealth accumulation
Edufin Research Paper n. 5 “Una Nota su Letteratura e Educazione Economico-Finanziaria”
Author : Mirco Tonin Year : 2026 Abstract : This paper examines the role of literature to foster economic and financial education through an interdisciplinary approach. Italy is characterized by relatively low levels of financial literacy, as documented by international surveys, and there is a clear need for innovative and inclusive educational approaches. The integration of diCerent disciplines makes it easier to oCer a contextualized and meaningful learning of economic concepts. Thanks to its narrative and experiential dimension, literature makes it possible to make complex topics such as risk, resource allocation, and market dynamics more accessible, thereby contributing to the development of critical thinking. From this perspective, it is important to facilitate a dialogue between the humanities and economics.
Edufin Research Paper no. 4 “Guessing in MiFID Tests, Financial Literacy and Investors Trading Behavior”
Author : Mariachiara Tedde Year : 2026 Abstract : This paper examines the link between investors financial knowledge and trading behavior by analyzing retake patterns in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) test. We categorize investors who fill in the MiFID test multiple times into two distinct groups based on their scoring trajectories across multiple attempts: ”guesser” investors, who exhibit inconsistent performance in the test, with initial scores exceeding subsequent results, and ”improver” investors, who demonstrate a progressive improvement in their scores over attempts. We find that ”guesser” investors tend to trade more, yet consistently achieving lower returns compared to their ”improver” counterparts. These results suggest that a ”guessing” attitude to financial assessments may indicate, not only a lack of genuine financial literacy, but possibly overconfidence, which leads to suboptimal investment decisions.
Edufin Research Paper no. 3 "Financial Education and Public Certification: Founding Practice on Theory. The New Portal of Italian Edufin Committee"
Authors : Serena Marzucchi, Donato Masciandaro Year : 2025 Abstract : The Italian Edufin Committee aims to strenghten its activity as public third-party certifier in the field of financial education, using its new portal as a communication device for such goal. The goal of this article is twofold. On the one side, the setting of the new portal is analysed. On the other side, the theoretical foundations of the function of the portal are uncovered, discussing the relationships between financial education as a credence good and the role of a public agency that implements its policy by means of ex ante certification of education activities, that in turn implies both effective communication and transparent accountability.
Edufin Research Paper no. 2 "From indebtedness to over-indebtedness: Individual characteristics and Financial Literacy”
Authors : Prof. A. Bonanomi, Prof. B. Bonfanti, Prof. P. Iannello, Prof. M. Lanz, Prof. E. Lozza, Prof. A. Sciarrone, Prof. G. Sesini Year : 2024 Abstract : The phenomenon of over-indebtedness is assuming increasingly significant proportions with particularly negative repercussions both on the well-being of the over-indebted individual and, in a broader sense, on the stability of the economic and financial system of the society as a whole. The purpose of this project is to investigate the characteristics and the path that leads to a condition of (over)indebtedness by involving a representative sample of the Italian adult population and an oversample of over-indebted.