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Changes in wage structure in Mexico going beyond the mean: An analysis of differences in distribution, 1987-2008

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Author Info

  • Claudia Tello

    () (AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)

  • Raul Ramos

    () (AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)

  • Manuel Artís

    () (AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the relationship between wage inequality, employment structure, and returns to education in urban areas of Mexico during the past two decades (1987-2008). Applying Melly’s (2005) quantile regression based decomposition, we find that changes in wage inequality have been driven mainly by variations in educational wage premia. Additionally, we find that changes in employment structure, including occupation and firm size, have played a vital role. This evidence seems to suggest that the changes in wage inequality in urban Mexico cannot be interpreted in terms of a skill-biased change, but rather they are the result of an increasing demand for skills during that period.

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File URL: http://www.pcb.ub.edu/xreap/aplicacio/fitxers/XREAP2012-07.pdf
File Function: First version, 2012
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File URL: http://www.pcb.ub.edu/xreap/aplicacio/fitxers/XREAP2012-07.pdf
File Function: Revised version, 2012
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP) in its series Working Papers with number XREAP2012-07.

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Length: 56 pages
Date of creation: May 2012
Date of revision: May 2012
Handle: RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2012-07

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Postal: Espai de Recerca en Economia, Facultat de Ciències Econòmiques i Empresarials, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Tinent Coronel Valenzuela, 1-11, 08034 Barcelona
Phone: +34+934039653
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Web page: http://www.pcb.ub.edu/xreap
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Keywords: wage inequality; quantile regressions; decomposition.;

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References

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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Changes in wage structure in Mexico going beyond the mean: An analysis of differences in distribution, 1987-2008
    by Maximo Rossi in Wikiprogress América Latina on 2012-05-29 12:13:00
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Cited by:
  1. Antonio Di Paolo, 2012. "(Endogenous) occupational choices and job satisfaction among recent PhD recipients: evidence from Catalonia," Working Papers XREAP2012-21, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Dec 2012.
  2. Antonio Manresa & Ferran Sancho, 2012. "Leontief versus Ghosh: two faces of the same coin," Working Papers XREAP2012-18, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Oct 2012.

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