Financial Literacy, Cultural Dominance, and Financial Well-Being of SME Owners in Ghana

The literature on the relationship between financial literacy and financial well-being is growing but yet to consider whether the social support emanating from cultural settings conditions this relationship. The main objective of this article was to assess the role cultural values (Protestantism and Catholicism) played in explaining the financial well-being of small- and medium-scale enterprise (SME) owners in a developing economy, Ghana. On the basis of 300 randomly selected SME owners, an ordinary least squares technique was employed to establish this relationship. The results highlight that the level of financial literacy of SME owners tends to influence their financial well-being. In addition, Protestant ideology weakens financial wealth acquisition process of SME-Owners. Lastly, the study found little support for the assertion that culture moderates the relationship between financial literacy and financial well-being. Consequently, the study recommended that policies aimed at promoting financial education for financial well-being should not neglect the cultural context of beneficiaries. © 2019 Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ.