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UNA DE CAL Y OTRA DE ARENA: BUILDING COMPARABLE REAL WAGES IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2015

Robert C. Allen ,
Tommy E. Murphy  and
Eric B. Schneider
Robert C. Allen
Affiliation:
New York University
Tommy E. Murphy
Affiliation:
Università Bocconi
Eric B. Schneider
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
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Abstract

This paper discusses some of the criticisms recently raised by Rafael Dobado-González about our work on real wages in the Americas in the long run. Although addressing a series of issues, Dobado mainly questions our use of the welfare ratio methodology to assess standards of living in colonial Spanish America. In this article we explain how, despite its limitations, this methodology provides a solid, transparent metric to compare economic development across space and time. In particular, welfare ratios present more economically relevant information on living standards than the commodity wages that Dobado prefers (Dobado González and García Montero 2014). We argue that Dobado fails to offer convincing evidence against our findings; hence, we stand by these results, which suggest that the divergence between North and Latin America began early in the colonial period.

Resumen

Este artículo discute algunas de las recientes críticas de Rafael Dobado-González (2015) a nuestro trabajo sobre la evolución de los salarios reales en el continente americano en el largo plazo (Allen et al.2012). Aunque discutiendo una serie de puntos, Dobado hace particular hincapié en la validez del uso de la metodología de ratios de bienestar (welfare ratios) para evaluar niveles de vida en la Hispanoamérica colonial. En el presente trabajo explicamos cómo, a pesar de sus limitaciones, esta metodología provee una métrica sólida y transparente para comparar desarrollo económico, tanto a través del espacio, como a través del tiempo. En particular, exponemos cómo los ratios de bienestar presentan información económicamente más relevante sobre éstos niveles de vida que los salarios en términos de commodities que Dobado prefiere (Dobado González and García Montero 2014). En suma, proponemos que Dobado no proporciona argumentos convincentes en contra de nuestros resultados, que sugieren que la divergencia entre América del Norte y América Latina comenzó temprano en el periodo colonial, por lo que consideramos que esa lectura de la evidencia sigue siendo válida.

Keywords

economic historyreal wagesstandard of livingGreat DivergenceLatin AmericaN16N36I32historia económicasalarios realesniveles de vidaGran DivergenciaAmérica Latina
Type
Panorama and Debate
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , March 2015 , pp. 61 - 75
Copyright
© Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2015 

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Footnotes

a

Social Science Faculty A5 169, P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. [email protected]

b

Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management (PAM) and Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy, Università Commericiale Luigi Bocconi, Via Röntgen 1, 20136 Milano, Italy. [email protected]

c

Department of History, University of Sussex, Arts Road, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QN, United Kingdom. [email protected]

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