Research

Gain and Loss Learning Differentially Contribute to Life Financial Outcomes

Prepared by a team of researchers from the Stanford University Department of Psychology and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (released 2011)

 

Critical Choices: How Colleges Can Help Students and Families Make Better Decisions about Private Loans (PDF 2 MB)

Prepared by The Project on Student Debt (released July 2011)

 

The Development of Superior Personal Investing Performance

A team of researchers from Florida State University have produced a research summary and three working papers contrasting high-performing versus low-performing households in terms of the frequency of householders’ personal finance and investing activities during their lifetime, in the previous twelve months, and in the previous three weeks.

 

The research team also produced an informational brochure and workbook (in both English and Spanish) based on the findings of the project.

 

Pitfalls of Investor Decision-Making in the Social Interaction Context

Prepared by researchers from Princeton University's Department of Psychology and Public Affairs (released 2010)

 

A Study of U.S. Financial Literacy: Evidence and Policy Implications

Prepared by Dartmouth College and NBER Member Professor Annamaria Lusardi and various co-authors including Harvard Professor Peter Tufano and Wharton Professor Oliva Mitchell, among others.

 

Individual Differences in Financial Risk Taking Across the Lifespan

Prepared by a team of researchers from the Stanford University Department of Psychology and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (released 2010)

 

Managing Risk and Minimizing Fees

Prepared by a team of researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (released 2010)

 

Online Investment Education for Farm Families: Audience/Marketing Analysis (PDF 589 KB)
Research conducted by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and eXtension, as part of a project to create an online investment education program to meet the needs of modern farm households (released 2009)

 

Using Nonfinancial Measures to Assess the Risk of Fraudulent Financial Reporting and Improve Retail Investor Protection

Prepared by a team of researchers at North Carolina State University, George Mason University and Brigham Young University (released 2009)

 

National Financial Capability Study
In consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department and the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation commissioned this study to establish a baseline measure of the ability of Americans to manage their money (released 2009)

 

Evaluation of the Stock Market GameTM

Results of a randomized controlled trial undertaken by Learning Point Associates showing substantial gains for student achievement in mathematics and financial literacy (released 2009)

 

Employer-Provided Retirement Planning Programs (PDF 1 MB)
Prepared by researchers from North Carolina State University (released 2011). For additional information about this research, visit the project website.

 

Investors' Use of Disclosure Information

Prepared by researchers at the University of Central Florida and Bentley University (released 2009)

 

The Use of Non-Financial Information: What Do Investors Want? (PDF 423 KB)
Prepared by researchers at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (released 2008)

 

An Experimental Study of Annuity Choice (PDF 8 MB)
Prepared by researchers from the College of William and Mary (released 2008)

 

Exploring Solutions to the Fund Assortment Problem (PDF 489 KB)
Prepared by researchers from Rutgers University School of Business (released 2008)

 

Effects of Visual Primes on Improving Web Disclosure to Investors (PDF 818 KB)
Prepared by researchers from University of Connecticut-Stamford (released 2007)

 

Overcoming Biases to Promote Wise Investing (PDF 376 KB)
Prepared by researchers from Princeton University's Department of Psychology and Public Affairs (released 2007)

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Stock Ownership, two papers from researchers at The Ohio State University published in 2007 and 2008

 

Who Will Own Our Children?, report (PDF 319 KB) from the National Association of State Boards of Education about financial literacy in K-12 education (released 2006)

 

Gender Differences in Investment Behavior, survey analysis (PDF 924 KB) conducted by researchers from Iowa State University and The Ohio State University (released 2006)

 

Off the Hook Again: Understanding Why the Elderly Are Victimized by Economic Fraud Crimes, survey results and analysis prepared for WISE Senior Services by The Consumer Fraud Research Group (released 2006)

 

Mutual Fund Purchase Practices, survey results and analysis (PDF 296 KB) prepared by the Consumer Federation of America (released 2006)