Educational Attainment and Regional Economic Performance in Mexico

A growing number of studies confirm the importance of educational attainment and human capital investment as a means for improving per capita income performance. In developing countries, attention to this linkage has primarily been carried out using national data aggregates. For relatively large countries such as Mexico, it is helpful to conduct similar analyses that document regional market income patterns. This paper utilizes 2000 census data for all 31 states and the Federal District in Mexico City to quantify regional income performance. Similar to other studies conducted using regional data in higher income economies, results confirm strong links between education and incomes across Mexico.