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A city of trades: Spanish and Italian Immigrants in Late Nineteenth Century Buenos Aires. Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Leticia Arroyo Abad

    (Middlebury College)

  • Blanca Sánschez-Alonso

    (Universidad CEU-San Pablo)

Abstract

The city of Buenos Aires is an extreme case in immigration history since the native workers were less than one third of the labour force. This paper is the first attempt to present empirical evidence on occupations and wages for Buenos Aires ca. 1890s. Using a large dataset, we look at the performance of Argentineans vis-ˆ-vis the largest two immigrant groups, the Italians and the Spaniards. We find that, on average, Argentineans enjoyed a higher wages; however, this group did not dominate all skill levels. We find skill specialisation by nationality. Despite higher literacy levels and the language advantage, Spaniards did not outperform Italians when looking at earnings and access to homeownership. With deeper and older ties to the community, Italians formed richer networks that helped their fellow countrymen in the host labour market.

Suggested Citation

  • Leticia Arroyo Abad & Blanca Sánschez-Alonso, 2015. "A city of trades: Spanish and Italian Immigrants in Late Nineteenth Century Buenos Aires. Argentina," Working Papers 0088, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    • Handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0088
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Pablo Astorga Junquera, 2017. "Latin American earnings inequality in the long run," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(3), pages 349-374, September.
    2. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Noel Maurer & Blanca Sánchez‐Alonso, 2021. "Paesani versus paisanos: the relative failure of Spanish immigrants in Buenos Aires during the age of mass migration," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 546-567, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Santiago Pérez, 2019. "Southern (American) Hospitality: Italians in Argentina and the US during the Age of Mass Migration," NBER Working Papers 26127, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Giuseppe De Arcangelis & Rama Dasi Mariani & Federico Nastasi, 2020. "Migration and Trade during the Belle Époque in Argentina (1870-1913)," Working Papers 11/20, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    migration; wages; labour force; Buenos Aires;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration

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