The role of immigration in the historical formation of the argentinian labor force during the belle époque period

Abstract

During the last quart of the XIX century, the Argentinian economy experienced high growth, a period which came to be known as the Belle Époque. Among the main features of this period two salient factors are the population increase and the inflow of immigrants. These are the subject of this paper, which begins by a survey of the literature and the contextualization of the period. The minor role of slavery is also studied. The main conclusion to be drawn from the paper is that the crucial role of immigration is the element which differentiates the Argentinian case from other Latinamerican and Western countries.