INVESTIGADORES
DJENDEREDJIAN julio Cesar
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Cost of Living and Real Wages in a Transitional Economy Buenos Aires (1776-1830)
Autor/es:
DJENDEREDJIAN, JULIO; MARTIRÉN, JUAN LUIS
Lugar:
Paris
Reunión:
Congreso; XIX World Economic History Congress; 2022
Institución organizadora:
International Economic History Association
Resumen:
The paper analyzes the evolution of prices and real wages in Buenos Aires between the end of the 18th century and the first decades after the independence (1776-1830). The dataset includes Consumer Price Indexes of 1st and 2nd generation and series of daily wages for construction workers with different levels of qualification (pawns and master masons). We built these time series using private accounts from probate records, hospital bills and local newspapers. The period chosen is relevant to analyze the late colonial growth cycle in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the effects of Independence wars (1810-1821) and the commercial opening towards the Atlantic markets (since 1809). This is an unprecedented approach, since the existing literature had only conducted partial analyses of different periods. We postulate that wages began a downward trend since 1816 due to the increase in the relative price of meat. Although the first part of the 1820s seemed to have positive effects, the local currency crisis and the effects of the war with Brazil (1825-1828) had a negative impact on the purchasing power of urban wages.