Although research has shown that poor people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including those living in rural areas save, little is known about the factors that influence saving and asset accumulation among this population. Using three theoretical perspectives on saving and asset accumulation, this study examines the broader determinants of saving and asset accumulation among low-income individuals...

Household survey data consistently depict large variations in saving and wealth, even among households with similar socio-economic characteristics. Within the context of the life cycle hypothesis, families with identical lifetime resources might choose to accumulate different levels of wealth for a variety of reasons, including variation in time preference rates, risk tolerance, exposure to unc...