Prague Economic Papers 2019, 28(5):567-588 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.721

Does Social Capital Influence Debt Literacy? The Case of Facebook Users in Poland

Kamil Filipek1, Andrzej Cwynar2, Wiktor Cwynar2
1 Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS), Lublin, Poland;
2 University of Economics and Innovation (WSEI), Lublin, Poland;

Debt literacy has been considered to be a critical competence of modern societies since the recent global financial crisis. Debt-literate individuals are less prone to financial abuse and perform better in terms of credit management. Currently, debt-related information and knowledge are widely accessible through social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook. However, not all SNS users have equal access to debt-related resources, and, consequently, they reach different scores in debt literacy tests. This study examines relational factors (resources) behind the debt literacy of Facebook users (N = 1,055) in Poland by applying the Resource Generator tool built into the online questionnaire. This quantitative instrument helps to diagnose resources that are embedded and mobilised (social capital) from personal networks made up of kin, friends and acquaintances. We found that users with more social capital, that is, better access to resources, perform better in debt literacy tests. Moreover, weak ties (acquaintances) appear to be good sources of debt-related information and knowledge that have positive impact on debt literacy scores.

Keywords: social capital, debt literacy, financial literacy, Facebook, social media
JEL classification: D83, G41, L82

Received: May 28, 2018; Accepted: January 24, 2019; Prepublished online: September 23, 2019; Published: November 1, 2019  Show citation

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Filipek, K., Cwynar, A., & Cwynar, W. (2019). Does Social Capital Influence Debt Literacy? The Case of Facebook Users in Poland. Prague Economic Papers, 28(5), 567-588. doi: 10.18267/j.pep.721
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