Vol. 8 No. 16 (2013)

Artículos

The cognitive transition in Mexico: economic geography and local governance impacts

Published 2013-01-02

  • David Mayer-Foulkes

David Mayer-Foulkes
Center for Research and Teaching in Economics image/svg+xml

Abstract

This article shows that cognitive ability dynamics interact with both individual and local indicators of macroeconomic wellbeing, publicly provided goods and private goods, through 141 localities in Mexico. The link of these various goods with inequity is compared quantitatively using the concentration index decomposition. The set of individual characteristics including paternal and maternal cognitive ability, whether mother works, father's schooling and household wealth, and the set of local characteristics including local economic activity, local public policy and local marginalization indicators, each have significant connections with the formation of cognitive ability. Living in a rural locality is associated with one fourth of inequities in cognitive ability. This is consistent with a model of human development and economic growth exhibiting aggregate macroeconomic channels through which economic geography and local governance can lead to stratification and divergence in welfare indicators. There is a long-term transition towards higher levels of cognitive ability that will take several generations to converge at the current rate.

Keywords

Cognitive ability, cognitive transition, economic geography, local governance, Latin America, Mexico

PDF (Spanish)

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