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Skin tone differences in social mobility in mexico: are we forgetting regional variance?

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Monroy-Gomez-Franco

    (City University of New York)

  • Roberto Velez-Grajales

    (Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias)

Abstract

Recent analysis at the national scale have concluded that there is a strong relationship between skin tones and social mobility in Mexico, where darker skin tones are associated with lower rates of relative upward intergenerational mobility than those observed for lighter skin tones. The present paper shows that this previous estimates are biased upwards as they fail to take into account the effects of regional differences in the distribution of skin tones. We correct for this factor by analyzing a new data set representative at the regional level. Our results suggest that although qualitatively the gap in mobility rates persist, the size of the gaps are smaller than previously reported and vary substantially across Mexican regions. In particular, we find that individuals with light skin tones face higher upward mobility rates and lower downward mobility rates than the rest of the Mexican population.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Monroy-Gomez-Franco & Roberto Velez-Grajales, 2020. "Skin tone differences in social mobility in mexico: are we forgetting regional variance?," Working Papers 525, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2020-525
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Woo-Mora, L. Guillermo, 2026. "Unveiling the Cosmic Race: Skin tone and intergenerational economic disparities in Latin America and the Caribbean," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. Thibaut Plassot & Isidro Soloaga & Pedro J. Torres L., 2022. "A Random Forest approach of the Evolution of Inequality of Opportunity in Mexico," Working Paper Series Sobre México 2022004, Sobre México. Temas en economía.
    3. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis & Vélez-Grajales, Roberto & Yalonetzky, Gastón, 2021. "Layers of inequality: Unequal opportunities and skin colour in Mexico," MPRA Paper 106605, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis, 2023. "Shades of social mobility: Colorism, ethnic origin and intergenerational social mobility," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 247-266.
    5. repec:osf:socarx:zgfvk_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Luis Monroy-Gómez-Franco & Kathleen Binkewicz, 2026. "A Stairway to the Top? The Relationship Between Economic and Educational Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from Mexico," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 1-27, January.
    7. Andrea Salas-Ortiz, 2025. "Understanding the role of inequality of opportunity in body mass index and waist circumference among Mexican adults," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 23(2), pages 507-528, June.
    8. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis Angel, 2022. "Regional comparisons of intergenerational social mobility: the importance of positional mobility," SocArXiv zgfvk, Center for Open Science.
    9. Paloma Villagómez-Ornelas & Luis Monroy-Gómez-Franco, 2021. "Economic Inequality meets Social Stratification: An Application of Stratification Economics to Mexico," Papers 2021_03, Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias.
    10. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis, 2023. "The importance of positional mobility for regional comparisons," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 322-333.

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    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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