European politicians and financial literacy activism: Does financial (in)stability matter?

Abstract

Financial education can influence the level of financial literacy. In each country, political incentives can shape financial education policies. Political activism in financial education can be motivated by concerns over financial instability. This theoretical relationship is empirically validated applying text analysis. By using financial education narratives as a proxy for political activism among European Parliament politicians from 1997 to 2024, we test whether financial instability cases matter in explaining political activism in financial education.