TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bernheim,B. Douglas
AU  - Garrett,Daniel M.
AU  - Maki,Dean M.
TI  - Education and Saving: The Long-Term Effects of High School Financial Curriculum Mandates
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 6085
PY  - 1997
Y2  - July 1997
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6085
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6085.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
B. Douglas Bernheim
Department of Economics
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6072
Tel: 650/725-8732
Fax: 650/725-5702
E-Mail: bernheim@stanford.edu

Dean Maki
E-Mail: jodykam@aol.com
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1997-12-01
AB  - Over the last forty years, the majority of states have adopted consumer education policies, and a sizable minority have specifically mandated that high school students receive instruction on topics related to household financial decision-making (budgeting so forth).  In this paper, we attempt to determine whether the curricula arising from these mandates have had any discernable effect on adult decisions regarding saving.  Using a unique household survey, we exploit the variation in requirements both across states and over time to identify the effects of interest. The evidence indicates that mandates have significantly raised both exposure to financial curricula and subsequent asset accumulation once exposed students reached adulthood.  These effects appear to have been gradual rather than immediate -- a probable reflection of implementation lags.
ER  -