This chapter claims that the La Chamba community in central Colombia exhibits some characteristics of Schumpeter's (1949) concept of economic development. This case is important because it represents several mestizo communities in Latin America, which are deeply involved in domestic and...

This chapter claims that there are characteristics of the institutional structure of some indigenous societies that in some cases prevent economic development by complicating the emergence of extra-family networks (social capital), and the transition from personal to impersonal exchange; this is...

Purpose – Generally speaking this chapter examines if Max Weber's theory of the protestant ethic helps explain socioeconomic progress currently seen in some communities in Latin America where Protestantism has advanced rapidly. Methodology/approach – This chapter is a case study. It reviews...

This study uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional variables, to which traditional socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The...