An Economic Model of Tax Compliance with Individual Morality and Group Conformity

This paper explores the evolution of the female participation in the industrial labor force in Mexico during the 20th century. It finds a Ushaped relation between female labor participation and income per capita. An econometric analysis is carried out for the textile industry during the period 1925-1934 and for the manufacturing industry during the period 1987-1999. Results show the existence of substantial regional differences in female participation in the labor market, and the variables that explain it, that diminished with time, and particularly during the period 1994- 1999. Results suggest the existence of different degrees of social stigma around female participation in the industrial sector in the different regions, that were more important during the first than during the second period studied. Finally, results suggest that women’s labor participation in the declining part of the U could be in part the result of greater unionization of the labor force, and that the structural transformation that took place in the Mexican industry as a result of the opening-up of the economy from 1985 on ( and more intensely after 1994) could be behind the increase in the labor participation of women observed during the 1987-1999 period.