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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the lack of financial literacy as one probable factor explaining the low levels of portfolio diversification. The authors consider distinct aspects of financial literacy and control for socioeconomic and behavioral differences among individual groups of investors. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed models in this paper use multivariate analysis to examine the relationship between financial literacy and portfolio diversification. Investors’ biases have been measured by means of a questionnaire comprising several items, including indicators of investors’ portfolio fragmentation, financial literacy and socio economic variables. The sample consists of 256 small investors actively trading on the Tunisian stock market. Findings – The results suggest that investors’ experience, financial literacy level, age, their use of the availability heuristic, familiarity bias and portfolio size, have a significant impact on the diversity of assets included their portfolios. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the empirical study is the small size of the sample. A larger sample would have given more reliable results and could have enabled a wider range of analyzes. Practical implications – The paper encourages investors to make their investments decisions based on their financial capability and experience levels and to avoid relying on their sentiment. Social implications – The paper encourages governmental organizations to establish training programmes aimed to develop the individual investor’s financial literacy level. Originality/value – The current study is the first of its kind focusing on the link between financial literacy and portfolio diversification, within the specific context of Tunisia.

PurposeThe objective of this study is to explore the effects of financial literacy level and risk aversion on the saving behavior. The literature review showed dialectical results. Therefore, this study attempts to clarify the debatable of these results by studying the mediating effect of risk aversion on the relationships between demographics determinants and saving behavior moderated by the effect of the financial literacy level.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from the University of Normandy; the study sample included 516 respondents representing different segments of French households. The structural equation analysis was utilized to control the impact of financial literacy as a moderate variable and the risk aversion as a mediator variable among the link between sociodemographic factors and saving behavior.FindingsThe results demonstrated that there were significant effects of demographics factors on risk aversion. Moreover, financial literacy moderates the relationships between risk aversion and saving behavior.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this research is the small size of the study sample. This paper is restricted to French households. Future financial education training should cover the European context.Practical implicationsThis study provides further evidence that financial literacy should be considered an important factor for improving household well-being. The paper encourages governments and financial institutions to create a national financial education program.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to employ a sample of low-income households after financial education training in the French context.

This study examines linkages between information and communication technology (ICT) dynamics, inequality and poverty in order to establish critical masses of poverty and inequality that should not be exceeded in order for ICT dynamics to promote gender inclusive education in 57 developing countries for the period 2012-2016. Poverty is measured with the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of the population) while inequality is proxied by the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio. The ICT dynamics are measured with 'internet access in school', 'virtual social network', 'personal computers' 'mobile phone penetration', 'internet penetration' and 'fixed broadband subscriptions'. The empirical evidence is based on interactive Generalized Method of Moments estimators from which thresholds are computed contingent on the validity of tested hypotheses. First, the Gini coefficient should not exceed 0.5618 in order for 'internet access in school' to positively affect inclusive education. Second, the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of the population) should remain below 33.6842% in order for 'internet access in school' to favorably influence inclusive education. Third, the Palma ratio should not exceed 3.3766 in order for internet penetration to favorably affect inclusive education. Fourth, for personal computers to increase inclusive education, the Gini coefficient, Palma ratio and poverty headcount (% of the population) should not exceed 0.4781, 3.5294 and 17.7272, respectively. The study confirms the significant role technological deepening plays in advancing inclusive education by means of policies that reduce poverty and income inequality, with potentially wider applicability to other developing economies. The study has provided poverty and inequality levels that should not be exceeded in order for personal computers, internet penetration and 'internet access in school' to promote gender inclusive education.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the impact of information communication technology (ICT) use and government efficiency on the economic growth. It assesses empirically the impact of government success in ICT promotion and government efficiency to enhance economic growth and catalyzing corruption control through technology adoption. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the relationship between ICT and economic growth in a large sample of 149 countries for the period 2012–2016. The empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments. Findings There is a significant relationship between e-government development, ICT development and institutional quality, and not ICT development and corruption. The empirical results show that a negative value of the interaction suggests that the impact of corruption on economic growth is smaller for countries with a higher level of technology adoption. Practical implications The differences in e-government success across countries in the world are influenced by the digital divide due to income and corruption control level. Originality/value The efficiency of technology adoption and promotion will ensure stronger effects of corruption control on economic growth. Relevant practical implications derive from the research that can guide public policy in the area of e-government.