Thus far, there is not one single consumption basket of Buenos Aires for the whole 19th century. The available series cover from the 18th century until 1810 and between the latter decades of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Most of the 19th century remains uncovered although research on prices of specific goods has advanced recently. In this article we construct two consumer baskets, based on primary sources from Buenos Aires archives: a Bare Bone Basket and a 'respectable' basket, according to Allen's denominations. Furthermore, through the calculation of the welfare ratio for those baskets, this study aims to achieve a better assessment of the urban and rural wages and real income of the population of Buenos Aires during this period.

El trabajo estudia la evolución en la distribución de la propiedad de la tierra en el sector rural de Buenos Aires entre los años centrales del gobierno de Rosas y los inicios de etapa liberal, utilizando como fuentes principales unos censos económicos realizados por motivos fiscales, así como los padrones de población. Se observa una creciente desigualdad general que se puede asociar a las limitaciones en la oferta de tierra junto a un importante incremento demográfico. Pero a la vez se encuentran divergencias regionales significativas que se busca explicar por un conjunto de motivos que van desde la orientación productiva, las condiciones iniciales desiguales de poblamiento y parcelamiento de la tierra en cada lugar, así como los procesos de urbanización, entre otros.

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This article studies inequality in Buenos Aires from the late colonial period to the beginning of the belle époque through series of prices based on primary sources. This enables a comparison of the evolution of land prices and wages in order to estimate the functional income distribution among workers and proprietors. The evolution of livestock prices is assessed as well to capture a more complete image of capital income, due to the importance of cattle raising for the economy of Buenos Aires. The outcome reveals an increasing inequality since the dawn of the cattle-farming boom at the beginning of the independent era.