Labor Markets in Rural Guatemala

A cross-section study of economic development and incentives to reduce family size

John P. Stein

Expert InsightsPublished 1978

Examines labor market conditions in five communities of rural Guatemala, focusing on differing roles of women and children in the labor market. The data describe economic activities in 1974 of 1000 families in four rural villages in which subsistence agriculture is the major activity, and another 1000 families in a large modern community near Guatemala City. The analysis presents preliminary estimates of wage functions, and evidence on the changing marginal value products of literacy, schooling, and experience in the work place. These parameters are examined to learn about the combined effects of urbanization, increased economic opportunity and income growth on job participation rates of men, women, and children and on the incentives for childbearing. The empirical evidence obtained from this study is consistent with the hypothesis that incentives to reduce family size arise naturally during the urban development process.

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Stein, John P., Labor Markets in Rural Guatemala: A cross-section study of economic development and incentives to reduce family size. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1979. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6111-1.html.
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