The role of urban non-capitalist activity in a developing economy: The case of Colombia

Sanjines O., Carmen (1983) The role of urban non-capitalist activity in a developing economy: The case of Colombia. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

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Abstract

The major objective of this thesis is to study the articulation between urban non-capitalist activity and the capitalist sector of the Colombian economy, in an attempt to show that these two sectors which are distinct in nature are, nonetheless, inseparable as aspects of the current process of capitalist development and accumulation in Colombia. In particular, this study attempts to show that those sections of the urban labour force engaged in non-capitalist activity participate in, and actually contribute to, the development of capitalist production and accumulation in Colombia by: (i) exerting a downward pressure on the level of wages that are paid by capital to its work force, (ii) supplementing the insufficient means of subsistence that are provided by capital in the form of low wages for the maintenance and reproduction of labour and (iii) supplying essential goods and services, especially in those instances where it is either unprofitable or too costly for capital to provide them on the basis of wage-labour. The analysis is based on primary data collected by CEDE's Survey of Employment and Poverty as well as secondary data from other sources and concentrates on the four main cities of Colombia, namely, Bogota, Cali, Medellin and Barranquilla. Chapter I is concerned with a critical examination of the literature on urban productive heterogeneity, focussing in particular on the form in which the inter-relationship between the two sectors is viewed within the various approaches that exist on the problem. At a more general level, this Chapter also discusses the two major theoretical limitations posed by the main approaches to urban productive heterogeneity to our understanding of the role played by urban non-capitalist activity in the process of development in LDCs: (i) the dualist and residual mode of analysis used in these interpretations of the economy which, we argue, results from the use of traditional development theory as a general framework for analysis and (ii) the sharp division between the two sectors and their radical opposition, as expressed by their hypothesis about the existence of a' dual sector economy and labour market structure in the urban areas of LDGs. Chapter II describes the background against which urban non-capitalist forms of economic activity have been retained in the course of Colombia's capitalist development. Using secondary data, an attempt is made to show that particular features of Colombia's agricultural and industrial development have acted as conditioning factors for the permanence rather than the elimination of certain elements of non-capitalist forms of economic activity in the urban economy of Colombia. Chapter III is concerned with the methodology followed in this study for distinguishing non-capitalist activity from its capitalist counterpart, a distinction upon which the analysis of the following Chapters is based. Five distinctive features of the enterprises in which the workers are engaged provide the basis for the capitalist/ non-capitalist sector distinction used in this study. The Chapter also describes the main methodological aspects of CEDE's Survey of Employment and Poverty and provides a broad description of the employment structure in Colombia's four main cities. Chapter IV examines the role of urban non-capitalist activity in depressing wage rates. Chapter V examines the role of urban non-capitalist activity in supplementing the insufficient means of subsistence set aside by capital in the form of low wages for the maintenance and reproduction of its work force. Chapter VI focusses on this role with particular reference to Bogota's food retailing industry. The reliance of the capitalist sector on non-capitalist activity for the supply of food retailing services to the community is seen in the light of the following two factors; (i) the needs of the consumers and the response to those needs and (ii) the conditions under which food retailing becomes a profitable proposition for commercial capital. Chapter VII contains a concluding appraisal of the role of urban non-capitalist activity in the process of capitalist development and accumulation of the Colombian economy. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Additional Information: Advisers: Simon Mitchell; Philip O'Brien
Keywords: Economics, Latin American studies
Date of Award: 1983
Depositing User: Enlighten Team
Unique ID: glathesis:1983-72629
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 11 Jun 2019 11:06
Last Modified: 11 Jun 2019 11:06
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/72629

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