Savings at the Periphery of Markets: Evidence from Forager-Farmers in the Bolivian Amazon |
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| Authors: | Eduardo A. Undurraga Ariela Zycherman Julie Yiu Taps Bolivia Study Team Ricardo A. Godoy |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USAeundurra@brandeis.edu;3. Department of Anthropology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA;4. Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA;5. Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study (TAPS), Correo Central, San Borja, Beni, Bolivia |
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| Abstract: | AbstractWe used survey and ethnographic data to study savings in a highly autarkic society of native Amazonians in Bolivia (Tsimane’). We equated savings with the amount of maize and rice in storage, area planted with plantains and manioc, and number of edible domesticated animals owned by a household or an adult. We found no large inter-annual change in savings possibly due to low income, impulsivity and a bundle of institutions and norms, such as borrowing, theft and reciprocity norms. The bundle attenuates the need for household formal savings at the periphery of markets. |
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