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The Road Not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective

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  • WARD, MARIANNE
  • DEVEREUX, JOHN

Abstract

We examine Cuban GDP over time and across space. We find that Cuba was once a prosperous middle-income economy. On the eve of the revolution, incomes were 50 to 60 percent of European levels. They were among the highest in Latin America at about 30 percent of the United States. In relative terms, Cuba was richer earlier on. Income per capita during the 1920s was in striking distance of Western Europe and the Southern United States. After the revolution, Cuba slipped down the world income distribution. Current levels of income per capita appear below their pre-revolutionary peaks.

Suggested Citation

  • Ward, Marianne & Devereux, John, 2012. "The Road Not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 104-132, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:72:y:2012:i:01:p:104-132_00
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    Cited by:

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    2. Simon Mair, 2025. "The Relationship Between Energy and Capital: Insights from The Wealth of Nations," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 244-259, June.
    3. Alfred G. Cuzán, 2018. "Evaluating Castros’ Cuba, Franco’s Spain and Pinochet’s Chile: Economic, Social, and Political Indicators," Annual Proceedings, The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, vol. 28.
    4. Dorfs, Wiebke & Hampel, Maximilian & Bryson, Joanna J., 2026. "The Non-Binarity of Artificial Intelligence Global Competition: 2018-2025," SocArXiv nk7ja_v1, Center for Open Science.
    5. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
    6. Benjamin Bridgman & Michael Maio & James A. Schmitz, 2012. "What ever happened to the Puerto Rican sugar manufacturing industry?," Staff Report 477, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    7. Geloso, Vincent & Pavlik, Jamie Bologna, 2021. "The Cuban revolution and infant mortality: A synthetic control approach," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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