Purpose: Are financially illiterate individuals all the same? This study aims to answer this question. Specifically, the authors investigate whether people answering incorrectly and “do not know” to the big five questions about financial knowledge (FK), all identified by previous literature as financially illiterate, are two sides of the same coin, or rather individuals with different socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and whether this leads to different levels of risk of falling victim to financial fraud. Design/methodology/approach: Using a large and representative sample of Italian adults, the authors run both ordered probit and probit regressions to test the determinants of financially illiterate individuals, distinguishing between those answering FK questions incorrectly and those answering “do not know”. The authors also measure the probability of falling victim to financial fraud for the two groups. To check the robustness of our results, the authors run a multinomial regression, a structural equation model and an instrumental variable regression model. Findings: The authors demonstrate that the socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of individuals selecting incorrect responses to FK questions are different from those of individuals selecting the “do not know” option. Moreover, the results show that the former are more likely to be victims of financial frauds. Practical implications: The “one-size-fits-all” approach is not suitable for financial education. It is important to consider socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of individuals in order to identify specific targets of education programmes aiming to reduce insecurity and excessive self-confidence as well as to increase objective FK. The study’s findings also identify vulnerable groups to which financial fraud prevention schemes should be targeted. Originality/value: To date, financial illiteracy has been measured as the sum of incorrect and “do not know” responses given to FK questions. This approach does not allow to observe the socio-demographic and socio-economic differences between people choosing the “do not know” option and those answering incorrectly. The paper aims to overcome this limit by investigating the socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of individuals selecting “do not know” and incorrect responses, respectively. The authors also investigate whether the two groups have different probabilities of being victims of financial fraud.

The study investigates how environmental strategies, board gender diversity, and CSR committees affect the circular economy performance in the banking sector. For the first time, we focus on three specific reduction goals: GHG emission reduction, e‐waste reduction, and offering products to reduce the negative environmental impact. Using a sample of 671 listed worldwide banks from 63 countries in 2010–2021, we demonstrate that green strategies and CSR committees positively affect all three circular economy targets. However, board gender diversity positively impacts bank emission reduction and green products offered but does not influence e‐waste reduction. Furthermore, the presence of the CSR committee significantly improves the effectiveness of environmental strategies adopted by banks in achieving their circular economy performance. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change proves to be effective in enhancing bank circular economy reduction outcomes.

Does corporate social responsibility (CSR) entail economic and financial loss or does it guarantee competitive advantage? To answer this question, many studies have aimed to establish, largely in samples from multiple industries, the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). These studies have produced conflicting results and any attempt to give a generalised and coherent conclusion has proved inadequate. This paper investigates the possible connection between CSP (measured by ethical rating) and CFP (measured by price-to-book-value) in a sample of international financial intermediaries. Although most previous contributions seem to confirm the hypothesis of the existence of a positive relationship between the two variables, the paper finds no clear evidence of a significant relationship between CSP and CFP in the financial sector.

The wide-ranging academic literature on corporate governance in the banking sector includes only a few studies on bank ownership and, specifically, on the comparative power of shareholders within the corporate structure. This paper reports an investigation into the presence of multiple large shareholders and their influence on profitability and risk in the long-term, considering a sample of 697 U.S. and European listed commercial banks from 2008 to 2018. It was found that the number of large and institutional shareholders has a positive impact on profitability, but no effect on risk. However, long-term ownership by multiple large shareholders contributes to decreasing risk in banks.