The response of labour effort to falling real wages: The Mexican peso devaluation of February 1982

This paper reports empirical evidence on the effect of the February 1982 Mexican peso devaluation with its concomitant reduction in real income on the output of individual workers. Using a set of pooled data for 46 workers employed in two textile plants in Mexicali over a 22-week period the regression results show a significant increase in average output of about 15% in response to the 25% decrease in wages due to the devaluation. The study also finds that there was no significant response in output to the legislated, annual increase in money wages of January 1982.