Abstract
Peasant workers on two plantations studied are simultaneously sharecroppers and wage laborers. Wages are partly determined by supply and demand; but other conditions also determine wages, e.g., personalized patron-client relationships. A worker has various possibilities in the wage-labor market; which he chooses is dependent in part upon his income and wealth. Generally, the greater the cushion of wealth between him and marginal subsistence, the more likely it is that he will risk investment in agricultural labor, where profit and risk increase with investment. At the extremes are two distinct types of worker: (1) the security-oriented wage laborer and (2) the risk-taking, investment-oriented "entrepreneur." Both types are sharecroppers, dependent upon the landlord; both consider themselves socially equal to one another; nonetheless, differences between them in earnings and wealth lead to different behavior in the wage-labor market.
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