Public investment plays a potentially relevant role in municipal economic growth in Mexico, not only because it provides resources that foster the development of lagging regions and thus economic convergence, as analyzed in neoclassical theory, but also because it may enhance this convergence through its influence on neighboring municipalities. This paper examines whether public investment and geographic contiguity have been determining factors in the economic convergence of Mexican municipalities using spatial panel data estimations. To this end, four periods covering 2003 to 2023 are analyzed. The results provide evidence of both absolute and conditional convergence, confirmed through direct effects. However, public investment has not significantly promoted municipal economic growth, although it generates limited spatial diffusion toward neighboring municipalities. Consequently, public investment remains a pending issue within Mexico’s regional growth agenda.
This paper aims to establish statistical associations between infrastructure development, the presence of crops such as plantain, cocoa, and coffee, and illicit coca leaf cultivation. To capture the combined influence of distance and municipal accessibility to wholesale food markets, the use of a remoteness and accessibility index is proposed. The empirical strategy focuses on estimating a dynamic panel model that includes these variables as determinants of the area planted with coca. The results show statistically significant negative associations between this variable, the area planted with legal crops, and market access conditions. It is found that a one-unit increase in the remoteness and accessibility index is statistically associated in the short term with an increase of 0.0189 hectares of coca, measured as a proportion of municipal area per 1000 hectares.
This article reproduces the conference given by Andreu Mas-Colell at the panel "Methodology in Economic Analysis" of the World Congress of the International Economic Association (Medellín, December 2023), in which he reflects on the role of economic theory in the face of three emerging tools: computational power, big data, and artificial intelligence. The panel, chaired by Eric Maskin (Harvard), featured contributions from Wendy Carlin (University College London and CEPR), Raj Chetty (Harvard), and Mas-Colell himself (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Driven by improved living conditions, scientific advances, and a sustained decline in fertility, Colombia is experiencing rapid demographic ageing. This transition has occurred amid persistent socioeconomic inequalities that translate into disparities in older adults’ health, well-being, and material living conditions. Although objective indicators are indispensable for measuring these inequalities, subjective well-being provides a complementary lens by capturing self-perceptions of life satisfaction, emotional states, and sense of purpose— dimensions closely linked to health and quality of life in old age. However, existing evidence is largely concentrated in high-income countries, leaving important gaps for contexts such as Colombia, where poverty and structural inequality shape ageing trajectories. Using microdata from the 2023 National Quality of Life Survey (ENCV), this study analyzes subjective well-being among Colombia’s population aged 60 and older. and develops a replicable composite indicator designed to monitor disparities, including gender, informing policies aimed at improving quality of life in old age.
This article examines the impact of the demographic dividend on economic growth in Mexico. Using panel data for 30 Mexican states from 1990 to 2021, we apply panel data estimations and the System GMM estimator to address endogeneity concerns. Results indicate that demographic dividend alone does not have a statistically significant effect; however, economic growth increases when labor force participation is ensured. Accordingly, policies promoting labor force participation should be implemented, alongside a forward-looking approach to converting the demographic dividend into savings that will increase productive investment.
