Endogenous Skill Acquisition and Export Manufacturing in Mexico
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 8, August 2016
(pp. 2046-85)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper presents empirical evidence that the growth of export manufacturing in Mexico during a period of major trade reforms (the years 1986 to 2000) altered the distribution of education. I use variation in the timing of factory openings across commuting zones to show that school drop-out increased with local expansions in export-manufacturing industries. The magnitudes I find suggest that for every 25 jobs created, one student dropped out of school at grade 9 rather than continuing through to grade 12. These effects are driven by less-skilled export-manufacturing jobs which raised the opportunity cost of schooling for students at the margin.Citation
Atkin, David. 2016. "Endogenous Skill Acquisition and Export Manufacturing in Mexico." American Economic Review, 106 (8): 2046-85. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20120901Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- F14 Empirical Studies of Trade
- F16 Trade and Labor Market Interactions
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- L60 Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General
- O14 Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
- O19 International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations