 The fruits of the boom: real wages and housing costs in Dakar, Senegal (1914-1960)No 60/2021, African Economic History Working Paper from African Economic History Network Abstract: The incomes of unskilled workers in Dakar under colonial rule was comparable to those of their counterparts elsewhere in West Africa. Real urban wages grew during the Great Depression and the ‘developmental decade’ following World War II, though accounting properly for housing costs results in substantial downward revision to both the level and growth of real wages. This paper argues that a similar revision is likely necessary for real wage estimates in other colonies in Africa. The magnitude of this correction suggests that much of the fruits of the economic boom of the first half of the twentieth century were ‘soaked up’ by urban landlords, pointing to an important driver of inequality in urban colonial Africa. Keywords: Africa; Senegal; Real Wages; Housing Costs (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:afekhi:2021_060 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in African Economic History Working Paper from African Economic History Network |
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