{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T14:36:39Z","timestamp":1791729399686,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752192000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006456","name":"Bundesministerium f\u00fcr Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006456","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Despite worldwide initiatives to alleviate poverty, 35% of Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s population continues to live below the poverty line. In light of this, many regard the promotion of saving as a cost-efficient and low-risk strategy for household resilience and pro-poor development. We assess saving determinants for 374 Malian farmers by employing a two-step selection model. As a first step, we assess determinants of whether or not a farmer saves by applying a probit model. In a second step, we estimate an Ordinary Least Squares regression to investigate a farmer\u2019s savings amount. In both steps, we disaggregate the outcome variable on whether respondents save through mobile money, via a bank account, or a secret place. To address endogeneity concerns, we apply an instrumental variable approach using the walking distance to the next mobile money agent as an instrument. We find considerable heterogeneity in saving determinants and identify a particularly strong role of supply-side factors such as infrastructure quality. Furthermore, the results suggest that saving with a secret place is persistently popular, in particular among younger respondents and those who do not have access to a smartphone in their household. This indicates a potential to transfer these hidden savings to formal accounts for interest earnings and potentially safer storage. The findings have implications for improving financial practices and resilience among smallholder farmers in low-income economies, suggesting the transformative potential of secure and accessible saving mechanisms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0326873","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T17:32:19Z","timestamp":1752255139000},"page":"e0326873","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Savings for resilience: Investigating saving instruments in Mali"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5479-0672","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Annkathrin","family":"Wahbi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eike","family":"Nordmeyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8399-3962","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tim","family":"\u00d6lkers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3746-623X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Oliver","family":"Musshoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0326873.ref001","author":"J Hasell","year":"2022"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0326873.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.21.1.141","article-title":"The economic lives of the poor","volume":"21","author":"AV Banerjee","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Econ Perspect"},{"key":"pone.0326873.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2015.03.002","article-title":"Compound-risk aversion, ambiguity and the willingness to pay for microinsurance","volume":"118","author":"G Elabed","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Econ Behav Organ"},{"key":"pone.0326873.ref004","volume-title":"Poor economics: a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty","author":"A Banerjee","year":"2011"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0326873.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1111\/roiw.12101","article-title":"Savings by and for the poor: a research review and agenda","volume":"60","author":"D Karlan","year":"2014","journal-title":"Rev Income Wealth"},{"key":"pone.0326873.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.1016\/j.worlddev.2017.11.018","article-title":"Do saving promotion interventions increase household savings, consumption, and investments in Sub-Saharan Africa? 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