Predictors of financial competence of Peruvian high school students in PISA 2022

Aldo Bazán-Ramírez^1*Eduardo Hernández-Padilla²Ybar Palomino-Malpartida³Wilfredo Bazán-Ramírez⁴Edwin Félix-Benites¹

• ¹Universidad Nacional José María Arguedas, Andahuaylas, Peru
• ²Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico
• ³Universidad Nacional de San Cristobal de Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru
• ⁴Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru

We investigated the influence of academic achievement, financial literacy and sociodemographic factors on the Peruvian students' financial competence performance in PISA 2022. For this purpose, data from 4,092 students from 336 schools were analyzed using multilevel hierarchical models. Five groups of predictor variables were evaluated: sociodemographics, financial familiarity and experience, financial literacy, support and involvement, and math and reading achievement. Results from independent models showed that eight variables had significant effects on financial competencies, including gender, ICT resources and household possessions, attitudes towards financial matters, familiarity with financial concepts, school financial education, family support and influence of friends. However, when testing a full multivariate model incorporating all predictor groups, math and reading achievement emerged as the strongest predictors of financial competence, with coefficients above 0.50, followed by familiarity with financial concepts (0.26). The results suggest that the development of financial competencies in Peruvian students is more closely linked to general academic performance in mathematics and reading than to specific financial literacy variables. These findings have significant implications for educational policies and curriculum development, especially considering the recent inclusion of economic and financial education content in the Peruvian national curriculum starting in 2024.