Wages and work organization in the southeast Spanish mining, 1850-1936

Authors

  • Ángel Pascual Martínez Soto Univesidad de Murcia
  • Miguel Ángel Pérez de Perceval Verde Univesidad de Murcia
  • Jorge Eduardo Martínez Pérez Univesidad de Murcia

Keywords:

Mining, living standards, wages, real wages, living conditions, prices, organization of work

Abstract

This paper analyzes the evolution of the workers’ wages in the mining operations of the southeast of Spain, where predominates a model of mining defined by the extreme division of property and a specific organization of labor relations. We reconstruct real wages series for the Sierra of Cartagena, one of the most representative area of this kind of productive organization. For deflating we have elaborated a Cost of Living Index mainly using documentation from hospitals in the area and the local government. Shopping baskets and published household budget surveys were used as weights. The wages were obtained from business documentation. Finally, results have been compared with other areas, delving into the features of the income of the study area. The purpose of this paper is explain differences across several mining business models and their implications in wages dynamics, trying to find the main factors behind these differences.

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Published

2018-02-08

How to Cite

Martínez Soto, Ángel Pascual, Miguel Ángel Pérez de Perceval Verde, and Jorge Eduardo Martínez Pérez. 2018. “Wages and Work Organization in the Southeast Spanish Mining, 1850-1936”. Revista De Historia Industrial — Industrial History Review 26 (69):49-79. https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/HistoriaIndustrial/article/view/21501.