TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE LABOR PRODUCTIVITY GAP IN MEXICAN MANUFACTURING

This paper applies a stochastic frontier approach to analyze the evolution of technical efficiency in Mexican manufacturing and its effect on the labor productivity gap among states over the period 1988-2008. The model allows for heterogeneity in technological development by introducing region-specific effects in the econometric specification. The main findings of our analysis are threefold. First, technical efficiency was both increasing and converging over time and across states in a context where labor productivity was also converging. Second, there are considerable differences in the levels of technological development of the north and the central regions with respect to the south that partially explains the labor productivity gap. Third, the dynamics of technical efficiency contributed to reduce inequality in productivity among states over the analyzed period.