Income poverty and sectoral income differentials in Chilean agricultural (1935–1968)

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to analyse sectoral income differentials and income poverty in Chilean agricultural between 1935 and 1968. The food share method of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is used as a methodological approach. The conclusions are as follows: (1) contrary to what the existing literature suggests, the Chilean agricultural sector was not entirely an agrarian subsistence economy; (2) the cost of agricultural labour began to increase in the mid-1930s, but less than in the industrial and manufacturing sectors in urban areas; (3) maintaining tenants above the poverty line in rural areas from 1935 to 1955 was as expensive as paying the average wage of blue-collar workers; and (4) if days worked per year and household size are considered, agricultural wages rose but remained below the poverty line for rural areas.