Los Salarios Reales Y El Nivel De Vida en Una Economía Latinoamericana Colonial: Montevideo Entre 1760-1810

Abstract

This article makes a contribution to the empirical and methodological discussion on the standard of living in Latin America during the colonial period. It presents evidence obtained from primary sources on the evolution of nominal wages, cost of living and real wages for 10 occupational categories in the region of Montevideo between 1760 and 1810. The results place rural laborers and masons in Montevideo below subsistence levels until at least the first decade of the 19thcentury, a finding that is difficult to reconcile with the demographic and productive growth of the region at the same time. Wages may not be the main component in the structure of family income among the subordinate sectors of the colonial Río de la Plata.

Eating, Drinking, Paying. The Price of Food in Montevideo in the Late Colonial Period

“…In contrast, basket 2 was adapted to Montevideo, from the minimum consumption basket for labourers of pre-industrial Europe formulated in Allen (2001), and for pre-industrial American workers in Allen et al (2012), providing a daily survival intake of about 1,941 calories. A previous study advanced a local basket for a survival intake based on Allen's proposal (Moraes and Thul 2018). Basket 2 differs from this previous study in the content and volumes of food; salt and yerba mate were not in the old basket, and what is most important, the share of bread was more significant in the old one than it is in the new.…”

“…It is a hypothesis about the food consumption of artisans and manual and non-manual skilled workers, such as carpenters, bricklayers and shop-keepers. In the 1790s, their daily wages ranged from 6 reales (a bricklayer) to 14 reales (a master carpenter) (Moraes and Thul 2018). According to the social stratification of colonial Montevideo, these workers could be considered as occupying a low or middle position in the local society, depending on their race and legal (free or not) condition.…”

Consumption Baskets and Cost of Living in Southern Late Colonial Brazil: Rio Grande, 1772-1823

“…It seems to be a counterintuitive result, as these cities were relatively similar areas in geography, production, society and demography. As Moraes and Thul (2017, pp. 24-25) pointed out, low Montevideo standards are probably displaying some of the problems of Allen's methodology.…”

“… 3 Literature on living standards in Late Colonial and Post independent Rio de la Plata is abundant. See Johnson (1990), Arroyo Abad et al (2012), Djenderedjian and Martirén (2015), Moraes and Thul (2017), Frid (2017), Gelman and Santilli (2018). …”

“… 19 It is worth mentioning that Lyman Johnson (1990) calculated living standards for Buenos Aires in 1810. However, we decided not to consider his results, as the methodology used is different than Moraes and Thul (2017). Also, we have not considered research by Leticia Arroyo Abad for Buenos Aires during 1776-1820, as it is not clear which construction salaries are included, or how nominal salary series have been averaged (Arroyo Abad took data from Johnson).…”