Regional wage convergence in Spain : 1850-1930.

Abstract

Real wages PPP adjusted are used to analyse labour market integration in Spain. In contrast to earlier research analysing migration and nominal wages rates, our research seems to indicate that a well-integrated labour market had emerged in Spain by 1914 and substantial wage convergence happened from 1850 to 1914 with low rates of interna l migration. The shock of World War I and the subsequent globalisation backlash appear to disrupt this integrated market provoking a spectacular increase in wage differentials across regions and provinces. However, real wage convergence across Spanish provinces resumed powerfully over 1920s, this time accompanied by high internal migrations.