Wage inequality in post-reform Mexico
By: by Jim Airola, Chinhui Juhn.
Contributors: Juhn, Chinhui, 1961-
Series: Discussion paper ;; no. 1525; Discussion paper (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit : Online) ;; no. 1525
Publisher: IZA
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Bonn, Germany
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Wages -- Mexico.; Income distribution -- Mexico.; Postsecondary education -- Mexico.; Mexico -- Economic conditions -- 1994-; Mexico -- Economic policy -- 1994-
Description: "Using the Mexican Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) covering 1984-2000 we analyze wages and employment in Mexico after trade liberalization and domestic reforms. We find that wage inequality and returns to post-secondary schooling increased rapidly during 1984-1994 but stabilized since that period. The end of inequality growth was due to a severe macroeconomic crisis which adversely impacted the better educated, an increase in education levels at the end of the 1990s, and a slowdown in skill demand in the latter half of the 1990s. Between-industry shifts, consistent with trade-based explanations, account for a part of the increase in skill demand during 1984-1994, but these types of movements actually reduced the demand for skill in the latter part of the 1990s. The equalizing impact of trade was offset by within-industry demand shifts which continued to favor more educated workers. The Mexican experience in the 1990s suggests that market-oriented reforms have a sharp initial impact on inequality which dissipates over time. However, the opening of the economy to trade, foreign capital, and global markets also leads to a more long-run increase in the demand for skill"--Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
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