Abstract

We investigate the issue of university students' financial literacy (FL) to provide evidence that IRT models are appropriate measures when the construct is made of both quantitative and qualitative items and to explore how and to what extent latent regression models add to traditional interpretations of factors associated with FL. We surveyed 366 Business Studies freshmen at the beginning of 2009-10 academic year in a large Italian University. Results confirm the influence of variables found to be relevant in previous studies and suggest that more research is needed on the role of non-observable traits in influencing financial literacy.