IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ulr/wpaper/dt-09-24.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The structural and historical relevance of services in Uruguay. A long run approach (1870-2020)

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Román

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía)

  • Henry Willebald

    (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía)

Abstract

Services currently play a prominent role in Uruguay's productive structure, constituting approximately two-thirds of GDP. This empirical observation has led to various arguments that Uruguay is now primarily a service-based economy. However, this characterization is not recent. By the mid-20th century, the gross value added (VA) from services accounted for over 55% of GDP. Moreover, historical analysis widely recognizes several service activities as key drivers of economic development since the 19th century. Despite this historical recognition, the absence of systematic measures of the VA of services has hindered studies on the evolution of "non-material" activities and their significance for economic growth. This article aims to address this gap by providing VA estimates to cover a comprehensive period from 1870 to 2020. We analyze the long-term evolution of services, particularly how they challenge the traditional three-sector hypothesis. Additionally, we explore the sector's transformations—from services closely tied to material production to those increasingly linked with urbanization and sophisticated consumption patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Román & Henry Willebald, 2024. "The structural and historical relevance of services in Uruguay. A long run approach (1870-2020)," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 24-09, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-09-24
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/45370
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carolina Román & Gastón Díaz & Pablo Marmisolle & Maximiliano Presa & Carolina Romero & Henry Willebald, 2023. "Estimaciones históricas del Valor Agregado Bruto de los servicios en Uruguay, 1870-2020. Nota metodológica," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-13, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    2. Douglas Gollin & Remi Jedwab & Dietrich Vollrath, 2016. "Urbanization with and without industrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 35-70, March.
    3. Gaston Diaz, 2017. "Railway investment in Uruguay before 1914: profitability, subsidies, and economic impact," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 21(3), pages 280-301.
    4. Piyabha Kongsamut & Sergio Rebelo & Danyang Xie, 2001. "Beyond Balanced Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(4), pages 869-882.
    5. repec:bla:revinw:v:24:y:1978:i:1:p:105-18 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. John H. Moore, 1978. "A Measure Of Structural Change In Output," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 24(1), pages 105-118, March.
    7. World Bank, 2010. "Uruguay - Trade and Logistics : An Opportunity - Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 2962, The World Bank Group.
    8. Dobrescu, Emilian, 2011. "Sectoral Structure and Economic Growth," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 5-36, September.
    9. Carolina Román & Henry Willebald, 2021. "Structural change in a small natural resource intensive economy: Switching between diversification and re-primarization, Uruguay, 1870–2017," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 57-81, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yagoub Elryah, 2019. "On the Priorities of Comparative Advantage of Agro-industry Commodities: the way towards Economic Transformation," Research in Business and Management, Macrothink Institute, vol. 6(1), pages 13-47, February.
    2. Federico Huneeus & Richard Rogerson, 2024. "Heterogeneous Paths of Industrialization," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(3), pages 1746-1774.
    3. Perez Sebastian,Fidel & Steinbuks,Jevgenijs & Feres,Jose Gustavo & Trotter,Ian Michael, 2020. "Electricity Access and Structural Transformation : Evidence from Brazil's Electrification," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9182, The World Bank.
    4. Dalila Chenaf-Nicet, 2020. "Dynamics of Structural Change in a Globalized World: What Is the Role Played by Institutions in the Case of Sub-Saharan African Countries?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 998-1037, September.
    5. Andreas Dietrich, 2012. "Does growth cause structural change, or is it the other way around? A dynamic panel data analysis for seven OECD countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 915-944, December.
    6. Gangopadhyay, Kausik & Mondal, Debasis, 2021. "Productivity, relative sectoral prices, and total factor productivity: Theory and evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Anne Villamil & Xiaobing Wang & Yuxiang Zou, 2020. "Growth and development with dual labor markets," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(6), pages 801-826, December.
    8. Thomas Baudin & Robert Stelter, 2022. "The rural exodus and the rise of Europe," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 365-414, September.
    9. Dietrich Vollrath, 2009. "The dual economy in long-run development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 287-312, December.
    10. Herrendorf, Berthold & Rogerson, Richard & Valentinyi, Ákos, 2014. "Growth and Structural Transformation," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 6, pages 855-941, Elsevier.
    11. Edgar Cruz & Xavier Raurich, 2020. "Leisure time and the sectoral composition of employment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 38, pages 198-219, October.
    12. Carl Gaigné & Jacques-François Thisse, 2013. "New Economic Geography and the City," Working Papers SMART 13-02, INRAE UMR SMART.
    13. Douglas Gollin & Stephen L. Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2004. "Farm Work, Home Work, and International Productivity Differences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(4), pages 827-850, October.
    14. Üngör, Murat, 2014. "Some thought experiments on the changes in labor supply in Turkey," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 265-272.
    15. Manogna R. L. & Aswini Kumar Mishra, 2022. "Agricultural production efficiency of Indian states: Evidence from data envelopment analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 4244-4255, October.
    16. Bjarne S. Jensen, 2004. "Pareto Efficiency, Relative Prices, and Solutions to CGE Models," DEGIT Conference Papers c009_006, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    17. Jaime Alonso-Carrera & Jordi Caballé & Xavier Raurich, 2011. "Sectoral composition and macroeconomic dynamics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 869.11, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    18. L. Rachel Ngai & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "Gender Gaps and the Rise of the Service Economy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 1-44, October.
    19. Temple, Jonathan & Ying, Huikang, 2014. "Life During Structural Transformation," CEPR Discussion Papers 10297, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Samuel de Abreu Pessôa, 2001. "Um Modelo de Acumulação de Capital Físico e Humano: Um Diálogo Com a Economia do Trabalho," Anais do XXIX Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 29th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 035, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].

    More about this item

    Keywords

    National accounts; Uruguay; Services; Structural change; Economic growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N76 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Latin America; Caribbean

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-09-24. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Lorenza Pérez (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ierauuy.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.