Role of Financial Literacy and Peer Effect in Promotion of Financial Market Participation: Empirical Evidence in Vietnam

The research examines how interactions of financial literacy and peer effect indicators impact financial market participation of Vietnamese investors. In this research, financial literacy indicator is constructed from two levels, namely, basic financial literacy and advanced financial literacy. An empirical study was carried out by investigating 387 individuals who are currently working in finance-related areas such as banking, insurance and real estate industries. The findings indicate that individuals with higher level of financial literacy, specifically those with advanced financial literacy level, tend to participate in financial market. However, individuals with basic financial literacy level tend to walk away from financial market because the nexus between basic financial literacy and financial market participation is found negative statistically significant. The findings also suggest that peer effect and perceived financial literacy have a positive significant relationship with financial market participation. These findings remain robust after endogenous problem is addressed by employing instrument variable (IV) method, especially Ivprobit regression. Hence, these findings recommend that policy-makers should design and develop financial literacy programs, specifically at sophisticated level, to adapt and overtake the trend in financial innovation development. This should be done, not only on individual, but also national scale to ensure greater financial market participation.