Abstract

HERBAS TORRICO, Boris; GARAY, Gonzalo  and  VEIZAGA, Rolando. The Homo economicus in Bolivia: Does culture influence economic decisions and economic wellbeing?. RevActaNova. [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.3, pp.242-265. ISSN 1683-0789.

Nowadays, the basic assumption of Homo economicus is under debate. Specifically, classic economics considered that economic agents rationally optimized their economic decisions. However, recent findings from behavioral economics suggest that economic agents do not rationally optimize their decisions and instead consider the context of their decisions. Based on these findings, our research extends the Bolivian literature about decision processes through the analysis of the influence of context on economic decisions and economic wellbeing. Specifically, through the use of structural equation modeling and data collected in Bolivia, our research makes two fundamental contributions to literature: (a) masculinity negatively influences economic decisions; and (b) economic decisions mediate the negative influence of masculinity on economic wellbeing. Our findings suggest that, differently from the Homo economicus assumption, Bolivians do not make rationally optimized economic decisions. Moreover, our results suggest that Bolivians make economic decisions using contextual information, such as culture. Additionally, our results suggest that economic decisions in Bolivia are related with money and goods acquisition (masculinity), which in turn influences economic wellbeing. Finally, based on our findings, we suggest managerial applications.

Keywords : Culture; masculinity; economic decisions; economic wellbeing; Homo economicus.

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