STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT AND ITS UNEQUAL IMPACT ON CATAMARCA AND TUCUMÁN BETWEEN 1990 AND 2002

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century, Catamarca, with an economic structure historically characterized for being traditional and reduced, was the northwestern province of Argentina with the lowest levels of poverty. On the other hand, Tucumán, with the most dynamic economy in the region, showed even higher levels of privation. Considering that poverty is related to the transformations that a productive structure experiences by means of the employment problems that the latter create, the goal of this article is to examine the relations between economic transformations and employment problems suffered by the active populations of Catamarca and Tucumán in the 1990-2002 period , the years of consolidation of neoliberal transformations in Argentina.
Regarding economic indicators, it was considered parameters that reflect the dynamic of agricultural activities, the manufacturing industry and the third sector in both economies. Regarding employment, unemployment and underemployment rates were examined, and certain features of the active population of each province as well.
In the years under study, Tucumán suffered a higher deterioration in its labor market due to the fact that its economy was more deeply affected by the economic changes that characterized the end of the 20thCentury. On the other hand, the economy of Catamarca, going through incipient periods of economic development, was less harmed by the neoliberal economic transformations. The State kept there a more important presence, acting as mitigating factor for the problems in the local labor market.