This credit cooperative(信用合作社), based on the credit union system(信用組合) founded during Japanese colonial rule, has played a major role in local finances in Taiwan since the Second World War. This thesis clarifies the changes in the credit union system in Taiwan from the 1910s to the 1940s, explores its local operations and developments, and analyzes its effects on local society, economy, finance, and social networks.
The Japanese colonial rulers first introduced the industry union system in Taiwan in 1913. The credit union was responsible for collecting local idle money, providing small loans to support local industry and economic development. Therefore, it became a channel for the government to understand national finance trends. Notably, local authority leaders increased their political and economic power, improved local industry developments, and maintained social order and stability by pushing for the establishment and operation of the credit union. Relevant studies have focused on the relationship between financial credit and overall developments in social industrial capital developments as well as on the stabilizing effect of the credit union system on Taiwan’s society and economy.
The Kaohsiung Third Credit Cooperative, formerly known as the Chungchou credit union (中洲信用組合) and the Hsingyeh credit union(興業信用組合) during Japanese colonial rule, remains active today. Its prewar developments make it suitable for use as a case study to analyze the socioeconomic position of the credit union in Taiwan. This thesis analyzes specific examples of the Chungchou and Hsingyeh credit unions to explore the credit union system and socioeconomic financial developments in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule as well as to determine how the credit union system operated and developed in local society, economy, and social networks. Five attributes of credit unions as key actors in aggregating the local society, economy, social networks, and circulating capital, namely members, operators, official supervision mechanism, payment flow, and connections with developments in local financial networks, are presented. Furthermore, the economic role of the credit union in local society during the Second World War is discussed, and the characteristics of credit unions regarding socioeconomic development in Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule are described.