This paper investigates the dynamics of individual portfolios in a unique innovation test conducted through a digital financial literacy platform—saalt. We conduct the test at the University of Luxembourg and ask students to construct their own financial portfolios, choosing from among 500+ financial assets; students could adjust their portfolio weights at any time using their registered accounts. Moreover, we stimulate the sharing of portfolio information among students through class presentations and Facebook postings. We find relatively sophisticated diversification strategies and clear momentum‐chasing behaviour for winning stocks; we also discover rapid convergence of individual portfolios to the provided benchmark portfolios. Finally, we find significant peer influences in the test. In general, financial literacy spreads rapidly among students.

This paper estimates agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) in 162 countries between 1991 and 2015 and aims to understand sources of cross-country variations in agricultural TFP levels and its growth rates. Two factors affecting agricultural TFP are analyzed in detailimported intermediate inputs and climate. We first show that these two factors are independently important in explaining agricultural TFPimported inputs raise agricultural TFP; and higher temperatures and rainfall shortages impede TFP growth, particularly in low-income countries (LICs). We also provide a new evidence that, within LICs, those with a higher import component of intermediate inputs seem to be more shielded from the negative impacts of weather shocks.

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Sub-Saharan African countries are exposed to spillovers from global financial variables, but the impact on economic activity is more significant in more financially developed economies. Generalized impulse responses from a GVAR exercise demonstrate how the CBOE volatility index (VIX) and credit conditions around the globe impact a subset of sub-Saharan African economies and regions. The estimated relationships suggest that the effect of global uncertainty is more pervasive in exports, with the impact on economic and lending activities being mixed. The channels of transmission include the effects of global financial variables on commodity prices and on trading-partner's macroeconomic and financial variables. The analysis suggests that shocks to credit conditions in the euro area and the U.S. have not significantly affected local lending conditions or economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa during 1991-2011, except perhaps in South Africa.