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The real wages and living conditions of construction workers in Santiago de Chile during the later colonial period, 1788–1808

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Llorca-Jaña

    (Department of Economics, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile)

  • Juan Navarrete-Montalvo

    (Centro Internacional de Investigación en Historia Económica, Empresarial y de la Administración Pública, FAE, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile)

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to determine the real salaries and living conditions of construction workers in Santiago de Chile towards the end of the colonial period (c. 1788–1808). To achieve this purpose, we have used the methodology proposed by Allen to calculate real salaries in terms of welfare ratios. Our main conclusions are: the real salaries of non-qualified workers remained above the subsistence levels throughout the entire period studied in this work, pointing to a lack of labour force in Santiago for this period (in spite of a population increase during the same period); there was also a significant proportion of qualified workers in the construction sector who earned 2–3 times more than non-qualified workers, giving rise to a notable heterogeneity in the mean income of workers in this sector and a greater difference than in other cities; despite being above the subsistence levels, the real salaries of non-qualified workers in Santiago appear to be among the lowest in the region, in contrast with previous conclusions in this respect. KEY Classification-JEL: N36. N96

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Llorca-Jaña & Juan Navarrete-Montalvo, 2015. "The real wages and living conditions of construction workers in Santiago de Chile during the later colonial period, 1788–1808," Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association, Asociación Española de Historia Económica, vol. 11(02), pages 80-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:ahe:invest:v:11:y:2015:i:02:p:80-90
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    Cited by:

    1. Llorca-Jaña, Manuel & Navarrete-Montalvo, Juan & Droller, Federico & Araya-Valenzuela, Roberto, 2018. "Height in eighteenth-century Chilean men: Evidence from military records, 1730–1800s," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 168-178.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crisis económicas. Real salaries. Living conditions;

    JEL classification:

    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N96 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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