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The Rise and Fall of Income Inequality in Mexico, 1989-2010

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Listed:
  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez
  • Gerardo Esquivel
  • Nora Lustig

Abstract

Inequality in Mexico rose between 1989 and 1994 and declined between 1994 and 2010. We examine the role of market forces (demand and supply of labour by skill), institutional factors (minimum wages and unionization rate), and public policy (cash transfers) in explaining changes in inequality. We apply the 're-centred influence function' method to decompose changes in hourly wages into characteristics and returns. The main driver is changes in returns. Returns rose (1989-94) due to institutional factors and labour demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez & Gerardo Esquivel & Nora Lustig, 2012. "The Rise and Fall of Income Inequality in Mexico, 1989-2010," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-010, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2012-010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. The Rise and Fall of Income Inequality in Mexico: 1989-2010
      by Maximo Rossi in Wikiprogress América Latina on 2012-03-12 18:30:00

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    Cited by:

    1. López-Calva, Luis Felipe & Levy Algazi, Santiago, 2016. "Labor Earnings, Misallocation, and the Returns to Education in Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7454, Inter-American Development Bank.
    2. Vladimir Hlasny, 2019. "Redistributive Impacts of Fiscal Policies in Mexico: Corrections for Top Income Measurement Problems," LIS Working papers 765, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Lustig, Nora & Lopez-Calva, Luis F. & Ortiz-Juarez, Eduardo, 2013. "Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 129-141.
    4. Mejía-Guevara, Iván, 2015. "Economic inequality and intergenerational transfers: Evidence from Mexico," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 23-32.
    5. Adams, Samuel & Atsu, Francis, 2015. "Assessing the distributional effects of regulation in developing countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 713-725.
    6. Nora Lustig, 2020. "Inequality and Social Policy in Latin America," Working Papers 2011, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    7. Abdelkrim Araar & Luis Huesca, 2014. "Comparison of the Tax System Progressivity Over Time: Theory and Application with Mexican Data," Cahiers de recherche 1419, CIRPEE.
    8. Alessandra Brito & Miguel Foguel & Celia Kerstenetzky, 2017. "The contribution of minimum wage valorization policy to the decline in household income inequality in Brazil: A decomposition approach," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 540-575, October.
    9. Binelli Chiara, 2015. "How the wage-education profile got more convex: evidence from Mexico," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 509-560, July.
    10. Gurleen Popli & Okan Yılmaz, 2017. "Educational Attainment and Wage Inequality in Turkey," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 31(1), pages 73-104, March.
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    12. Luis F. López-Calva & Nora Lustig & John Scott & Andrés Castañeda, 2013. "Gasto social, redistribución del ingreso y reducción de la pobreza en México: evolución y comparación con Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 1317, Tulane University, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2014.
    13. Frederic Lambert & Hyunmin Park, 2019. "Income Inequality and Government Transfers in Mexico," IMF Working Papers 2019/148, International Monetary Fund.
    14. Mejía-Guevara, Iván & Fuentes, María Estela Rivero, 2024. "Intergenerational paid and unpaid labor production and consumption inequality by gender in Mexico," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    15. Luis Huesca Reynoso & Abdelkrim Araar, 2016. "Comparison of fiscal system progressivity over time: theory and application in Mexico," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 31(1), pages 3-45.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Equality and inequality; Income; Labour market; Wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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