Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to review trends in real-wage levels in developing countries and to try to identify some of the more important factors that have shaped them. No attempt is made to examine developments in the wage structure. Moreover, the well-known scarcity of wage statistics — and, indeed, of most socio-economic data in developing countries — limits the scope of a review of trends in even the average level of wages. In the first place, by no means all, nor even a majority, of developing countries can be surveyed on the desirable quantitative basis; Table 1 contains data for only thirtyone. As will be seen, however, impressionistic assessments of wage trends that have been made, range rather more widely. Secondly, it is hardly correct to speak even of an assessment of ‘trends’, when the data relate to changes in real wages over a period of no more than eight years, 1956–64. But any attempt to trace developments prior to 1956 is accompanied by a sharp narrowing in the possible country coverage.2