Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267825 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2022/79
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper employs data from 103 developing countries between 1981 and 2012 to examine the determinants of private savings in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a focus on the effect of financial liberalization on private savings. It also analyses why the savings rate for SSA countries is lower than for other developing countries, by examining whether the determinants of private savings in SSA differ significantly from non-SSA countries. We find: (i) financial liberalization does not have a significant effect on private savings in all countries; (ii) the private savings rate for SSA countries is similar to non-SSA countries, after controls for relevant determinants of private savings; (iii) private savings are persistent, but the degree of persistence is lower for SSA countries; (iv) public savings crowd out private savings, but the crowding-out is more severe in SSA countries; (v) the growth rate of income per capita has a significant and positive effect on personal savings in both country groups; (vi) the effect of financial liberalization on private savings is similar for SSA countries in a monetary union and SSA countries outside a monetary union.
Subjects: 
developing countries
financial liberalization
monetary unions
private savings
subSaharan Africa
JEL: 
O16
O19
O23
O55
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-201-0
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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