No abstract

This article provides new evidence on salaries and living standards of low‐skilled workers in Lima in 1825–73. During this period, low‐skilled workers in Lima could cover their basic needs. Real salaries increased in the early‐1830s, but declined in the following decades. Real salaries declined during the Guano Era in spite of the commercial bonanza. An international comparison shows that Lima had lower living standards than Northern Europe and Australia, but higher than Asia. In most of the nineteenth century, Peru and other Latin American economies had higher welfare ratios than China, India, and Japan.

No abstract

This paper analyses the system of transportation and discusses the effect of geography and transport infrastructure on transport costs and economic growth in Peru during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Using primary and secondary sources, I find that geography imposed difficult transport challenges on Peruvians during this period. There were no navigable rivers in coastal and highland regions, railroads were scarce and most roads were inadequate for wagons, sometimes even for horses and mules. As a result, transport costs were extremely high, which constituted a barrier to trade, reduced gains from specialisation and retarded economic growth. Therefore, high transport costs seem to be one important factor in explaining the low income levels of Peru in the early 20 th century in spite of the country's large endowments of natural resources. 361 RESUMENEste artículo analiza el sistema de transporte y discute el efecto de la geografía y de la infraestructura de transporte en los costos de trasporte y el crecimiento econó mico en el Perú durante el siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX. Usando fuentes primarias y secundarias, mostramos que la geografía impuso dificultades severas a los peruanos durante este período. El Perú no tuvo ríos navegables en la costa y en la sierra, hubo pocos ferrocarriles, y la mayor parte de los caminos eran inadecuados para carretas, incluso para caballos y mulas. Como resultado, los costos de transporte fueron extremadamente altos, lo que representó una barrera al comercio, redujo las ganancias por especializació n y afectó el crecimiento econó mico. Por lo tanto, los altos costos de transporte parecen ser uno de los factores que explican los bajos niveles de ingreso de los peruanos a principios del siglo XX a pesar de sus grandes dotaciones de recursos naturales.

No abstract

No abstract

This article examines the mortgage credit market of Peru during the guano era and analyses the effects of the creation of mortgage banks on the allocation of credit. It shows that mortgage banks served as interregional intermediaries and facilitated access to long-term credit for large estate owners. However, banks did not broaden access to credit. As private lenders, mortgage banks loaned largely to Lima’s merchants and renters and to hacendados from the main coastal valleys.

No abstract