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Real Wages And Skill Premiums In Latin America, 1900-2011

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  • Astorga, Pablo

Abstract

This paper discusses and documents a new data set of real wages for unskilled, semi-skilled and relatively skilled labour in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela (LA-6) over the period 1900-2011. Three interrelated aspects are examined: the wage growth record associated with periods dominated by a particular development strategy; developments in the wage share of income; and movements in skill premiums and their links with fundamentals. The key findings are: (i) the region’s unskilled wage rose by 147 per cent compared to rises of 254 per cent in the average wage and 440 per cent in income per worker (including both property and labour income); (ii) the average LA-6 wage share started a secular fall in the 1950s; (iii) skill premiums tended to peak during the middle decades of the 20th century, coinciding with the acceleration of industrialisation and the timing of the demographic transition. Movements in the terms of trade are broadly associated with both fluctuations and trends in wage premiums, though the direction of the link is country and time specific.

Suggested Citation

  • Astorga, Pablo, 2017. "Real Wages And Skill Premiums In Latin America, 1900-2011," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(3), pages 319-353, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:reveco:v:35:y:2017:i:03:p:319-353_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Blanca Sánchez‐Alonso, 2019. "The age of mass migration in Latin America," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 3-31, February.
    2. Giorgos Gouzoulis & Collin Constantine, 2020. "The Political Economy of Inequality in Chile and Mexico: Two Tales of Neoliberalism," Working Papers 235, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    3. Gouzoulis, Giorgos & Constantine, Collin, 2020. "The Political Economy of Inequality in Chile and Mexico: Two Tales of Neoliberalism," SocArXiv gruzp, Center for Open Science.
    4. Emilio Ocampo, 2020. "The Populist Economic Policy Paradigm: Early Peronism as an Archetype," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 731, Universidad del CEMA.

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