Conclusions

At best, this paper can be regarded only as an interim examination and explanation of wage trends in developing countries. A more complete evaluation must await not only improvements in wage statistics (in terms of both country and time coverage), but also a larger number of, and more detailed, country analyses of wage movements and the factors which shape them. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the foregoing examination of the factors influencing real-wage trends in manufacturing in developing countries is incomplete since account has been taken only of those considerations to which observers have spontaneously drawn attention and to other explanations which, on the face of it, would appear to be important. It is not impossible that in such a broad survey of a field so little explored as wage questions in developing countries, an important influence on wage trends in a given country or region may have been completely overlooked. For instance, even if inflation does limit real wage rises in developing countries, the absence of substantial price increases in the countries of Central America and the Caribbean can hardly provide a complete explanation of the large increases in real wages recorded in that region.