The Determination of Wages for Unskilled Labor in the Advanced Sector of the Dual Economy of Mandatory Palestine.

The purpose of this paper is to present, within this theoretical framework, an analysis of some aspects of the interdependence of wages structures in the dual economy of Mandatory Palestine between the two world wars. During the Mandatory period, a Jewish and an Arab sector existed side by side, under the same British administration. The two sectors were regarded as separate economic units, the Jewish sector being much more developed than the Arab with regard to income, economic structure, and level of education. The Arab economy was characterized by a backward agricultural structure; the majority of the Arab labor force lived in rural settlements and engaged in agriculture mostly at the subsistence level. A small percentage of the Arab labor force was engaged in building, manufacturing, and the service industries. However, Arab enterprises outside agriculture were mainly small businesses (workshops, shops, etc.) relying only to a small extent on paid labor. On the other hand, a small percentage of the Jewish labor force was engaged in agriculture, which was highly capital intensive and based on advanced methods of farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]