During COVID-19, impact of subjective and objective financial knowledge and economic insecurity on financial management behavior: Mediating role of financial wellbeing

The purpose of this research is to look into financial management behavior during the COVID-19. Without a doubt, financial knowledge is an important, but in the COVID-19, the majority of people are experiencing economic insecurity, which is regarded as unique contribution when testing financial management behavior. Furthermore, Pakistan is an Islamic country, so, financial knowledge, is further subdivided into objective, subjective, and Islamic financial knowledge, with financial wellbeing serving as mediating variable. Pakistan has a diverse population of respondents, this model was tested on university students in Pakistan between the ages of 20 and 40, with the majority of respondents experiencing job and food insecurity as a result of COVID-19. The research employs a two-stage method, PLS-SEM, for reliability checking via composite reliability and average variance extract, and discriminant validity checking via HTMT ratio. According to the findings, Islamic financial knowledge as positive, and other financial knowledge as negative, and economic insecurity (food and job insecurity) also has negative and significant impact on students' financial management behavior. Financial well-being significantly acts as a bridge between independents and dependent variables. The findings imply that financial knowledge has a significant impact on financial management behavior. Policymakers and administrators should improve information disclosure while promoting financial education in order to foster trust and responsible financial conduct among people.