Facultad de Económicas y CC Empresariales

The city of Buenos Aires in the 1890s is an extreme case in immigration history since the native workers accounted for less than one-third of the labour force. In this paper, we look at the labour market performance of Argentineans visa`-vis the largest two immigrant groups, Italians and the Spaniards. We find that, on average, Argentineans enjoyed higher wages, but workers specialised in particular occupations by nationality. Immigrants clustered in occupations with lower salaries. Despite higher literacy levels and the language advantage, Spaniards did not outperform Italians in earnings. Ethnic networks facilitated the integration of immigrants into the host society and played a role in the occupation selection of immigrants. Our results suggest that Italian prosperity in Buenos Aires was not based on superior earnings or skills but on older and powerful networks.

Millions of immigrants chose Argentina as the land of opportunity during the era of mass migration. Two immigrant groups, Italians and Spaniards, dominated the immigration flows. Despite higher literacy and their linguistic advantages, in Buenos Aires Spaniards fared worse when compared to Italians. By 1895, Italians enjoyed higher wages. What explains their paths in the city of Buenos Aires? We find that the Italian community capitalized upon pre-existing cultural traditions to establish denser and more effective networks to match their compatriots with economic opportunities. The more individualistic Spanish were unable to keep pace, despite their initial cultural, linguistic, and educational advantages.