Purpose What is the impact of financial literacy on the lending activity of banks? Based on the results of the S&P Global FinLit Survey for an extensive sample of countries, this paper aims to provide the first global test for the impact of country-level financial literacy on the lending activity of commercial banks. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data on financial literacy by country from the S&P Global FinLit Survey that was completed in 2014 and lending activity and macroeconomic control variables data from the World Bank from 2015 to 2017 to estimate the cross-sectional effect of financial literacy on the importance of loans and of non-performing loans, using different estimation methods. Findings The results show that, first, financial literacy favors lending activity, contributing to enhance the importance of credit in the economy. Second, financial literacy prevents bad loans from building up, thus reducing credit risk and favoring the quality of the credit portfolio of banks. These results are robust to several controls for macroeconomic conditions and the quality of institutions. They are also robust to different estimation methods. Research limitations/implications The evidence of the positive (negative) impact of population financial literacy on the quantity (poor quality) of loans suggests that the efforts to enhance the financial literacy of the population contribute to the sustainable development of the financial sector and economic growth. Originality/value The paper extends to an international and country-level the available evidence of the consequences of the existence (or lack of) of financial literacy for the lending activity of commercial banks, focusing on the amount of credit granted and the quality of such credit. Thus, the paper provides an exploratory analysis of the impact of country-level financial literacy on the lending activities of commercial banks.

The initial ‘idea’ for the book emerged during the seminar Sharing of Innovative Pedagogical Practices that occurred at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) in 2018. Like all ‘good ideas’, this one originated in a conversation between colleagues from the University of Coimbra and the University of West London in the United Kingdom. The ‘idea’ of this book was to move away from sharing experiences related to teaching and learning in higher education in just one or two countries, but instead to organise a more European view about the policy, research and teaching practices that are shaping the way our students learn, academics teach and do research. We have a total of 16 chapters from academics in Portugal, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic.<br>The book is organised in four interrelated themes: (1) policy and quality; (2) professionalisation of teaching and academic development; (3) research and teaching nexus; and (4) pedagogy and practice. <br>Enjoy reading the book!

PurposeA convenient payment system is increasingly recognized as an asset of tourism destinations. By using data on payments with cards issued in foreign countries, together with other monthly tourism flow variables, the authors assess the importance of card payments to identify seasonality in inbound tourism in Portugal.Design/methodology/approachThe authors compute seasonality measures using Portuguese data on card payments from 2003 to 2019, together with data on nights spent and the Balance of Payments travel credit. The authors also assess seasonal behaviour in the timespan of the different tourism strategic plans in place during this period.FindingsCard payments grew at a faster pace than the other inbound tourism variables and show a seasonal pattern similar to the other variables. Seasonality decreases when variables measured in quantities are considered (nights spent and number of card transactions). However, when the authors use value variables (Balance of Payments travel credit and value of card transactions), seasonality in 2019 is higher than in 2003.Research limitations/implicationsThe widespread use of digital payments makes card payment information an even better proxy of tourism activity and since it is available in a short time-span it has informational potential for tourism stakeholders and for researchers in this field.Originality/valueThe authors study the seasonal behaviour of foreign card payments along with other international tourism flow variables. The authors’ results highlight the informational potential of card payment data and the importance of electronic payment infrastructure for tourist activity.

The process of European integration is considered the most innovative example of regionalism in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis, which the world experienced since the beginning of 2020, caused a brutal negative shock on the economies. It raised new doubts and challenges about the European integration project, making the prospect of the EU’s dissolution something possible, even if undesirable.&lt;br /&gt;The book analyses these events, counting with the contribution of 41 authors, from universities and research centers of several European countries, and also from other continents. Its objective is to gather four perspectives to the European integration in a post-pandemic context: I) that of the countries of the Eurozone; II) that of the Eurozone candidate countries; III) the East “look” of EU candidate countries, and IV) the view of the rest of the world. The book is divided into four parts, each corresponding to one of these inputs, for a total of 24 chapters.

The role of financial sector has increased significantly since the 1980s, introducing a new term or phenomenon i.e. the financialization of the economy. There is still some imprecision about the nature and dynamics of financialization, including its impact on the economy. The main task of the financial sector is to allocate funds for its most productive use, while ensuring sustainable development. Recent studies show that excessive financial deepening negatively impacts the economies of developed countries, but is this true for posttransition economies? The aim of this paper is to look into the relationship between financialization and the state of a small and posttransition economy, the Latvian economy. Using a European database and methodological framework we analyze this relationship in Latvia between 1999Q1 and 2017Q4. In our study, we apply the standard Vector Auto-Regressive model (VAR). Our research results do not indicate that financialization causes significant changes in the state of the Latvian economy. The interpretation of this result is related to the degree of financial deepening in Latvia.