LEGAL MINDS AND FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE: SURVEY ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG MACEDONIAN LAW STUDENTS

Financial literacy is an important competency that empowers individuals to manage their resources and make prudent financial choices. In our work, we focus on examining financial literacy among law students in the Republic of North Macedonia. We conducted a survey with 129 law students from the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, the most prominent and oldest university in the country. The students demonstrated high knowledge of banking and credit and low knowledge in more complex financial areas, such as the share market, compound interest rate, and time value of money. Moreover, we used ANOVA and logistic regression to examine how different factors impact financial literacy. The analysis of the variance showed that there is a statistically significant difference between the students from various ethnic backgrounds and students originating from different regions. The logistic regression was employed to analyze the impact of socio-demographic, educational, and personal characteristics of the students on their financial knowledge. The results suggested that only region is a statistically significant socio-demographic predictor of financial knowledge. Personal characteristics, including financial influence and financial attitudes, have a favorable and statistically significant impact on the financial literacy of students, while the impact of financial behavior has proved to be positive but insignificant. The results from the study can further be used by the relevant financial regulators and entities in the country to advance the learning environment about finance competencies. We also recommend the innovation and modernization of the curriculums of law schools by integrating courses, training, and workshops that will strengthen students' financial knowledge.