IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/exehis/v53y2014icp101-119.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bank laws, economic growth and early banking in Latin America: 1840–1920

Author

Listed:
  • Zegarra, Luis Felipe

Abstract

This article examines the impact of legal and economic factors on the growth of commercial banking in Latin America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Using annual data for five countries for the period 1840–1920, this article shows that growth in exports had a significant effect on the growth of bank liabilities (deposits plus note issues). For the most part, changes in banking laws did not have a significant effect on the development of banking. This latter result likely reflects heterogeneity in the meaning of changes, as well as the potential dominance of de facto political factors in shaping the importance of de jure legal changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Zegarra, Luis Felipe, 2014. "Bank laws, economic growth and early banking in Latin America: 1840–1920," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 101-119.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:53:y:2014:i:c:p:101-119
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2014.01.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014498314000023
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eeh.2014.01.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haber, Stephen H., 1991. "Industrial Concentration and the Capital Markets: A Comparative Study of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, 1830–1930," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 559-580, September.
    2. Sylla, Richard, 1969. "Federal Policy, Banking Market Structure, and Capital Mobilization in the United States, 1863–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(4), pages 657-686, December.
    3. Peláez, Carlos Manuel, 1975. "The Establishment of Banking Institutions in a Backward Economy: Brazil, 1800–1851," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 446-472, January.
    4. Levine, Ross, 1998. "The Legal Environment, Banks, and Long-Run Economic Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(3), pages 596-613, August.
    5. Economopoulos, Andrew & O'Neill, Heather, 1995. "Bank Entry during the Antebellum Period," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(4), pages 1071-1085, November.
    6. Fry, Maxwell J, 1997. "In Favour of Financial Liberalisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(442), pages 754-770, May.
    7. Ng, Kenneth, 1988. "Free Banking Laws and Barriers to Entry in Banking, 1838–1860," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 877-889, December.
    8. Rockoff, Hugh, 1974. "The Free Banking Era: A Reexamination," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(2), pages 141-167, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zegarra, Luis Felipe, 2017. "Usury laws and private credit in Lima, Peru. Evidence from notarized records," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 68-93.
    2. Cuevas Casaña, Joaquim & Martín Aceña, Pablo & Pons Brias, María A., 2019. "How local conditions affect global banking: The case of BBVA and Santander," eabh Papers 19-02, The European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stephen Haber & Enrico Perotti, 2008. "The Political Economy of Financial Systems," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-045/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Stephen Haber, 2008. "Differential Paths of Financial Development: Evidence from New World Economies," NBER Chapters, in: Understanding Long-Run Economic Growth: Geography, Institutions, and the Knowledge Economy, pages 89-120, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kris James Mitchener & Matthew Jaremski, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Supervision: Evidence from U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 20603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Howard Bodenhorn, 2016. "Two Centuries of Finance and Growth in the United States, 1790-1980," Working Papers id:11352, eSocialSciences.
    5. Howard Bodenhorn, 2006. "Bank Chartering and Political Corruption in Antebellum New York. Free Banking as Reform," NBER Chapters, in: Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History, pages 231-257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Howard Bodenhorn & Eugene N. White, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Boards of Directors in New York, 1840–1950," NBER Chapters, in: Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective, pages 107-145, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema, 2013. "The short-run relationship between the financial system and economic growth: New evidence from regional panels," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 70-78.
    8. Matthew Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Banks, Free Banks, And U.S. Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1603-1621, April.
    9. Mitchener, Kris James, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Supervision: Evidence from U.S. States," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 181, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    10. Eduardo A. Morón, 1992. "La demanda por múltiples monedas: un enfoque de portafolio," Apuntes. Revista de ciencias sociales, Fondo Editorial, Universidad del Pacífico, vol. 19(31), pages 19-28.
    11. Benjamin Chabot & Charles C. Moul, 2014. "Bank Panics, Government Guarantees, and the Long‐Run Size of the Financial Sector: Evidence from Free‐Banking America," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(5), pages 961-997, August.
    12. Matthew Jaremski, 2010. "Free Bank Failures: Risky Bonds versus Undiversified Portfolios," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(8), pages 1565-1587, December.
    13. Zegarra, Luis Felipe, 2017. "Usury laws and private credit in Lima, Peru. Evidence from notarized records," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 68-93.
    14. Eichengreen, Barry, 2008. "Sui Generis EMU," CEPR Discussion Papers 6642, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Enrico Perotti, 2013. "The Political Economy of Finance," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-034/IV/DSF53, Tinbergen Institute.
    16. Muhammad Arshad Khan & Abdul Qayyum, 2007. "Trade Liberalisation, Financial Development and Economic Growth," PIDE-Working Papers 2007:19, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    17. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-485 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Muhammad Shahbaz & Ijaz Ur Rehman & Ahmed Taneem Muzaffar, 2015. "Re-Visiting Financial Development and Economic Growth Nexus: The Role of Capitalization in Bangladesh," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(3), pages 452-471, September.
    19. Luis Felipe Zegarra, 2015. "Political Instability, Institutions and Private Capital Markets in Lima, Peru," Working Papers 39, Peruvian Economic Association.
    20. Iacovone, Leonardo & Ferro, Esteban & Pereira-López, Mariana & Zavacka, Veronika, 2019. "Banking crises and exports: Lessons from the past," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 192-204.
    21. Weill, Laurent, 2011. "How corruption affects bank lending in Russia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 230-243, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Latin America; Banking sector; Bank laws;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N26 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:53:y:2014:i:c:p:101-119. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622830 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.