Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship

The measurement, drivers and outcomes of financial literacy for individuals and households received substantial academic attention in the recent years. In this chapter, we focus on entrepreneurs’ financial literacy. Entrepreneurs are renowned sources of innovation and growth but their ability to achieve such outcomes is fundamentally intertwined with their ability to take correct financial decisions. Despite the fact that financial literacy is arguably essential for entrepreneurs to take such decisions, empirical evidence on this topic is scarce. This chapter reviews the few academic studies that preliminarily investigate the degree of financial literacy of entrepreneurs. More importantly, we highlight relevant avenues for future research aimed at understanding how to measure financial literacy for (potential) entrepreneurs, and what is the impact of such construct on entrepreneurial outcome.