Abstract
From 1987 to 1993 the Mexican economy experienced deep economic reforms that have liberalized foreign trade and economic activities. These measures, known as structural adjustment and characterized as neoliberal in nature, should have fostered a vigorous recovery of growth and improvement in social conditions. The results have not been as expected; in particular, and according to the theory of international trade, it might be argued that the distribution of income would improve as wage differences decreased as an effect from the correction of the bias that improperly intensifies the use of capital under the strategy of import substitution. A number of works have reported that the liberalization or structural adjustment has been accompanied by greater wage dispersion, such as in Mexico and Chile; while for Korea, Singapore and Taiwan the differentials between educated and uneducated laborers reduced; and even in some other cases both tendencies have been registered, as in Colombia and Costa Rica. In the present work, we present evidence based upon data from the National Survey on Urban Employment, in which an increasing wage dispersion is indicated, and it is noticed, by means of simple econometric exercises, that the approach of human capital is a useful analytical framework, however limited, to explain the determination of incomes from work along the period from 1987 to 1993.
References
Alarcón González, Diana y Terry McKinley (1994), “Widening Wage Dispersion Under Structural Adjustment in Mexico”, ponencia presentada en The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Labour Markets and Income Distribution in Latin America, San José, Costa Rica, septiembre.
––––– (1997), “The Sources of Rising Income Inequality and Polarization in Mexico from 1989 to 1994”, Toronto, Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto (mimeo).
Alarcón González, Diana y Eduardo Zepeda (1997), “Jobs, Technology and Skill Requirements in a Globalized Economy. A Case Study of Mexico” (mimeo).
Becker, Gary (1994), Human Capital, 4a edición, Chicago, Chicago University Press.
Cragg, Michael Iann y Mario Epelbaum (1995), “El premio a la habilidad en los países menos desarrollados: la evidencia de México”, en José Alfredo Tijerina G. y Jorge Meléndez Barrón (coords.), Segundo Encuentro Internacional. Capital Humano, Crecimiento, Pobreza: Problemática Mexicana, Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.
Ghiara, Ranjeeta y Eduardo Zepeda (1996), “Returns to Education and Economic Liberalization”, Documentos de Investigación 4, Saltillo, Instituto de Economía Regional, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, noviembre.
Griliches, Zvi (1977), “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric Problems”, Econométrica, núm. 45, pp. 1-22.
Krueger, Anne O. (1990), “The Relationship between Trade, Employment and Development”, en G. Ranis y T. Schultz (coords.), The State of Development Economics: Progress and Perspectives, Cambridge, MA, Basil Blackwell, pp. 357-385.
Mckinley, Terry y Diana Alarcón González (1994), “Widening Wage Dispersion Under Structural Adjustment in Mexico”, ponencia presentada en The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Labour Markets and Income Distribution in Latin America, San José, Costa Rica, septiembre.
Mincer, Jacob (1974), Schooling, Experience and Earnings, Nueva York, Columbia University Press.
––––– (1994), “Human Capital: A Review”, en Clark Kerr y Paul D. Staudohar (coords.), Labor Economics and Industrial Relations. Markets and Institutions, Cambridge, Massachusetts y Londres, Inglaterra, Harvard University Press.
Murphy, K. y F. Welch (1991), “The Role of International Trade in Wage Differentials”, en Marvin Kosters (coord.), Workers and their Wages: Changing Patterns in the United States, Washington DC, EAI Press.
Psacharopoulos, George (1981), “Returns to Education: An Updated International Comparison”, Comparative Education, núm. 17, pp. 321-341.
––––– (1985), “Returns to Education: A Further International Update and Implications”, The Journal of Human Resourse, vol. XX, núm. 4, pp. 583-597.
––––– (1988), “Education and Development. A Review”, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Nueva York, The World Bank.
Robbins, Donald (1994a), “Worsening Relative Wage Dispersion in Chile During Trade Liberalization: Is Supply at Fault”, Estados Unidos, Harvard University, enero (mimeo).
––––– (1994b), “Relative Wage Structure in Chile, 1957-1992: Changes in the Structures of Demand for Schooling”, Harvard University, marzo (mimeo).
––––– (1995), “Trade, Trade Liberalization and Inequality in Latin America and East Asia”, Harvard University, diciembre (mimeo).
Tan, Hong y Geeta Bartra (1997), “Technology and Firm Size-Wage Differentials in Colombia, Mexico, and Taiwan (China)”, The World Bank Economic Review, vol. 11, núm. 1. enero.
White, H. (1980), “A Hetercedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroscedasticity”, Econométrica, núm. 48, pp. 817-838.
Willis, Robert (1986), “Wage Determinants: a Survey and Reinterpretation of Human Capital Earnings Functions”, en Orley Ashenfelter y Richard Layard (coords.), Handbook of Labor Economics, University of Chicago-Economic Research Center, NORC.
Wood, Adrian (1995), “Does Trade Reduce Wage Inequality in Developing Countries?”, Institute of Development Studies, Gran Bretaña, University of Sussex, julio (mimeo).
