ABSTRACT
In the Canal Zone as elsewhere, social costs of production could be greatly reduced through the use of immigrant labor. Social costs include individual and collective expenditures and investments in the education, health, housing, and general welfare necessary for the production, maintenance, and reproduction of a work force. Several factors contribute to the direct and indirect benefits that accrue to the labor importer as the result of lowered social costs. Low investment in schooling and health care, the cheap and often substandard housing, and the paucity of demands from the workers for a higher standard of living all help lower the investment in labor force maintenance. In an effort to raise productivity by standardizing and increasing the work efficiency of the West Indians, the Isthmian Canal Commission experimented with a number of arrangements for their housing, food, and health care.
