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

The main aim of this study is to analyse sectoral income differentials and in-come 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 manu-facturing sectors in urban areas; (3) maintaining tenants above the poverty line in ru-ral areas from 1935 to 1955 was as expensive as paying the average wage of blue-col-lar 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.El objetivo principal de este estudio es examinar las diferencias sectoriales de in-gresos y la pobreza de ingresos en el sector agricola chileno entre 1935 y 1968. El food share method de la Comision Economica para America Latina y el Caribe de las Naciones Unidas (CEPAL) es utilizado como enfoque metodologico. Las conclusiones son las siguientes: a) contrariamente a lo que sugiere la literatura, el sector agricola chileno no era enteramente una economia agraria de subsistencia; b) el costo del trabajo agricola aumenta desde mediados de la decada de 1930, pero este in-cremento no es tan marcado como en los sectores industrial y manufacturero de las zo-nas urbanas; c) mantener a un inquilino viviendo por encima de la linea de la pobreza para zonas rurales entre 1935 y 1955 era igual de costoso que pagar el salario prome-dio de trabajadores urbanos formales; y d) si se consideran los dias trabajados por ano y el tamano de las familias, los salarios agricolas crecen pero no alcanzan el nivel de la linea de la pobreza para zonas rurales.