Quantitative Economics
Journal Of The Econometric Society
Edited by: Stéphane Bonhomme • Print ISSN: 1759-7323 • Online ISSN: 1759-7331
Quantitative Economics: Nov, 2022, Volume 13, Issue 4
Inequality, Income Dynamics, and Worker Transitions: The Case of Mexico
https://doi.org/10.3982/QE1863
p. 1669-1705
Daniela Puggioni, Mariana Calderón, Alfonso Cebreros Zurita, León Fernández Bujanda, José Antonio Inguanzo González, David Jaume
We characterize the salient features of the distribution of (log) earnings of formal workers in Mexico using social security records for the period 2005–2019. The analysis is based on a nonparametric approach and is focused primarily on the properties of the distribution of earnings changes. We find strong evidence of deviations from normality of this distribution in terms of negative skewness and high kurtosis, with these deviations varying with income and along the worker's life cycle. A comparison between results obtained with administrative data and household survey data suggests that this latter source of information is inadequate to fully capture the evolution of inequality and the properties of earnings changes as nonresponse is nonrandom and concentrated among formal and highly educated workers—likely the highest earners. Due to the relative size of the informal sector in the Mexican economy, which results in a large number of workers maintaining a weak attachment to formal employment, we also study the impact of transitions out of and back into formal employment on wages earned in the formal sector. We document that workers who exit formal employment experience a significant wage penalty upon reentry taking, on average, 3 or more years to achieve comparable preexit wage levels.
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Supplemental Material
Supplement to "Inequality, Income Dynamics, and Worker Transitions: The Case of Mexico"
Daniela Puggioni, Mariana Calderón, Alfonso Cebreros Zurita, León Fernández Bujanda, José Antonio Inguanzo González, and David Jaume
Supplement to "Inequality, Income Dynamics, and Worker Transitions: The Case of Mexico"
Daniela Puggioni, Mariana Calderón, Alfonso Cebreros Zurita, León Fernández Bujanda, José Antonio Inguanzo González, and David Jaume
Journal News
March 5, 2024
Announcing the New Journal Editors
The terms of the Editors of the Econometric Society's three journals end June 30, 2025. We are pleased to announce the incoming Editors and to thank the outgoing Editors for their excellent and continuing service.
Econometrica: Since 2019, Guido Imbens has served as the 14th Editor of Econometrica. On July 1, 2025, Marina Halac will become the Editor.
Quantitative Economics: Stéphane Bonhomme has been the Editor of Quantitative Economics since 2021. His successor will be Bernard Salanié.
Theoretical Economics: The Editor of Theoretical Economics since 2021 has been Simon Board. Taking over for him in July 2025 will be Federico Echenique.
Guido, Stéphane, and Simon have been outstanding Editors. We are grateful to them for the work they have done and will continue to do, and we look forward to further congratulating them next year. We believe Marina, Bernard, and Federico will be outstanding successors and we thank them in advance for their service.
Finally, we are grateful to Larry Samuelson for chairing all three search committees, and we thank the search committee members for their hard and fruitful work:
Econometrica: Christian Dustmann, Lars Hansen, Alessandro Lizzeri, George Mailath, Ariel Pakes, Helene Rey, and Elie Tamer.
QE: Kate Ho, Michael Keane, Felix Kubler, Whitney Newey, and Frank Schorfheide.
TE: Jeff Ely, Johannes Horner, Gilat Levy, Meg Meyer, and Ran Spiegler.
