Dinámicas del sector agropecuario argentino en el siglo XXI: la distribución del ingreso en regiones pampeanas y extrapampeanas

Abstract

This paper discusses a number of issues that are central to understanding the situation of workers in the agricultural sector. First, the evolution of the sectorial product is contrasted with the capacity that it possesses to generate jobs. Then, the working conditions verified in the agricultural sector are described, with particular emphasis on the study of the degree of informality and the wage levels. It then compares the primary distribution of income of the sector to that of the national economy as a whole. This distributional analysis is complemented by two case studies that attempt to show the implications that distinct crops carried out in different regions have. The study shows that the average wage in the agricultural sector remains well below the average wage in the economy and, in addition, the share of wages in the sectorial value added has declined since the end of the convertibility regime, even in a context of an increasing average wage in the sector. Finally, based on the analysis of the above cases, income distribution is associated to the different crops and the regions where they are carried out. In this regard, the role of individual earnings as a guide to the use of arable land is discussed.