Without Distinguishing Color or Profession: Culture, Vatican II and the Long-Term Development of Credit Institutions in Bolivia

Authors

  • Brian Norris The Citadel 171 Moultrie Ave. Charleston, SC 29409

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/bsj.2015.125

Keywords:

ayllu, bank, credit, culture, Kemmerer Mission in Bolivia, Vatican II

Abstract

By the late 20th and early 21st century, credit institutions in Bolivia had become more complex, resilient and popular that at any time previously in its history. Traditional economics analyses emphasize incentives created by laws such as those promulgated by the Kemmerer mission in Bolivia in the 1920s and 30s, or material factors, such as transportation costs. Yet neither of these explanations offers a compelling explanation for the magnitude of the flourishing of popular and complex credit institutions in Bolivia after the 1960s. Cultural changes, however, might offer a compelling complement to legal and material explanations of credit development. Vatican II represented an important mass change in Bolivian culture, and institutions associated with these reforms ushered in a new era of credit institution development in the country.

Author Biography

Brian Norris, The Citadel 171 Moultrie Ave. Charleston, SC 29409

Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice Department at the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina

 

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Published

2016-03-17