The authors follow the Hellerstein, Neumark, and Troske (1999) framework to estimate marginal productivity differentials and compare them with estimated relative wages. The analysis provides evidence on productivity and nonproductivity-based determinations of wages. Special emphasis is given to...

Unlike social programs targeting individuals, few enterprise support programs have been rigorously evaluated, and existing evaluations have mostly been done in high-income countries such as the United States and Europe. Mexico spends a large share of government resources on small and medium...

This paper contributes to the analysis of spatial poverty in Ecuador by deepening the understanding of the constraints faced by the poor in the country through an investigation of the role of portable characteristics (human capital) and geography in explaining welfare. At the national level, the...

The author tries to identify the impact of firm-, region-, and industry-specific characteristics on technology adoption by Mexican firms. Cross-sectional and panel data from 1992-99 show that the firms most likely to adopt new technology are large, train workers, have highly skilled workers, are...

Mexico's National Technical Professional School (Colegio Nacional de Educaci?n Profesional T?cnica, CONALEP) is the largest technical education system in the country. CONALEP serves low-income students at the upper-secondary school level in Mexico. Using graduate tracer surveys from CONALEP, the...

The author uses the Ecuador Living Standards and Measurement Surveys (LSMS 1998 and 1999) to analyze the characteristics and determinants of child labor and schooling. She shows how interventions at the level of adults affect child labor and school enrollment. For example, an employment policy...

Standard benefit-incidence analysis assumes that the subsidy, and quality of education services are the same for all income deciles. This strong assumption tends to minimize the distributional inequity at various education levels. Using a new approach, emphasizing marginal willingness to pay for...

The author identifies the determinants of wages and productivity in Mexico over time using national representative linked employer-employee databases from the manufacturing sector. She shows that both employers and employees are benefiting from investments in education, training, work...

Using matched pair methods, Lopez-Acevedo reevaluates the labor market performance of graduates of Mexico's Colegio Nacional de Educacion ProfesionalTtnica (CONALEP), the country's largest technical education system. She also assesses the impact of innovations introduced by CONALEP in 1991. The...

Mexico experienced a pronounced increase in the degree of inequality and earnings inequality over the 1980s and mid 1990s. Contrary to the trend in the distribution of total income inequality, there has been an improvement in the distribution of earnings inequality since 1996. This paper shows...