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<p>Over the recent years, money has become one of the most compelling topics in modern societies. Consequently, financial literacy turns out to be an indispensable ability in today’s complex reality. Numerous studies reveal that the level of financial literacy is dependent on the socio-economic context in which the financial experience is formed. Against this background, this study aims to verify how the specific socio-economic context affects the perception of students with regard to the main sources of private wealth in the Western and Eastern Bloc countries. The research problem focuses on the following question: Do students’ perceptions precisely reflect the economic reality in their countries? Data from 115 essays written by students from Poland, Austria, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Ukraine were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis. A structured matrix of four predetermined sources of wealth – CEO compensation, financial trading, entrepreneurship, and inheritance – was developed and subsequently compared with students’ observations. As a result, two conceptual models were developed presenting differences in the perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students. Then the perceptions were compared with empirical data from the Forbes list of billionaires. This paper provides an example of how essays written by students can become a source of empirical research. Its added value lies in showing the usefulness of directed qualitative content analysis in socio-economic studies.</p>
</abstract>

Over the recent years, money has become one of the most compelling topics in modern societies. Consequently, financial literacy turns out to be an indispensable ability in today’s complex reality. Numerous studies reveal that the level of financial literacy is dependent on the socio-economic context in which the financial experience is formed. Against this background, this study aims to verify how the specific socio-economic context affects the perception of students with regard to the main sources of private wealth in the Western and Eastern Bloc countries. The research problem focuses on the following question: Do students’ perceptions precisely reflect the economic reality in their countries? Data from 115 essays written by students from Poland, Austria, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Ukraine were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis. A structured matrix of four predetermined sources of wealth – CEO compensation, financial trading, entrepreneurship, and inheritance – was developed and subsequently compared with students’ observations. As a result, two conceptual models were developed presenting differences in the perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students. Then the perceptions were compared with empirical data from the Forbes list of billionaires. This paper provides an example of how essays written by students can become a source of empirical research. Its added value lies in showing the usefulness of directed qualitative content analysis in socio-economic studies.

Perception of sources of private wealth. A qualitative study of perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students

International Journal of Management and Economics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Over the recent years, money has become one of the most compelling topics in modern societies. Consequently, financial literacy turns out to be an...

Phase of analysis	Steps
Preparation	Selecting unit of analysis (single essay)
Preparation	Reading all essays and selecting the most meaningful ones
Organizing the research process	Developing structured analysis matrix
	Data coding according to predefined categories
	Separating essays written by Western and Eastern Bloc students
Reporting and results presentation	Finding typical quotes for each predefined category
Reporting and results presentation	Elaborating conceptual models of perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students

Country	Main source of wealth

	Total number of billionaires	Own business	Inheritance	CEO position	Financial operations
Germany	85	30	46	7	2
Sweden	29	7	16	4	2
Netherlands	11	7	2	-	2
Austria	8	5	1	1	1
Russia	89	25	-	13	51^*
Ukraine	5	2	-	-	3^*
Poland	5	3	2	-	-

Perception of sources of private wealth. A qualitative study of perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students

Article Category: Empirical Paper

Pubblicato online: 03 mag 2021

Pagine: 138 - 150

Ricevuto: 19 set 2020

Accettato: 20 mar 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijme-2021-0008

Parole chiave
wealth, income, financial literacy, socio-economic differences, directed qualitative content analysis

© 2021 Joanna Pietrzak, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Directed content analysis process (deductive approach)

Billionaires and their main sources of wealth in analyzed countries

Perception of sources of private wealth. A qualitative study of perceptive schemes of Western and Eastern Bloc students

Article Category: Empirical Paper

Pubblicato online: 03 mag 2021

Pagine: 138 - 150

Ricevuto: 19 set 2020

Accettato: 20 mar 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijme-2021-0008

Parole chiavewealth, income, financial literacy, socio-economic differences, directed qualitative content analysis

© 2021 Joanna Pietrzak, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Directed content analysis process (deductive approach)

Billionaires and their main sources of wealth in analyzed countries

Parole chiave
wealth, income, financial literacy, socio-economic differences, directed qualitative content analysis