Abstract

FUENTES, Noé Arón. Crecimiento económico y desigualdades regionales en México: el impacto de la infraestructura. Región y sociedad [online]. 2003, vol.15, n.27, pp.81-106. ISSN 2448-4849.

Using regression analysis a quasi-production function is estimated for Mexico to examine if the public investment in infrastructure can alter the patterns of regional income, as well as to determine if the effectiveness of the public investment in infrastructure depends on its (economic and social) composition and the characteristics of the recipient regions (intermediate or lagging). This possibility has been suggested by Hansen (1965). The Mexican states were grouped by means of clusters and discriminants in two categories: intermediate and lagging. The results seem to confirm the Hansen’s thesis. Each physical indicator (synthetic) of economic public investment was statistically significant in the explanation of the regional variations of the state gross domestic product (SGDP) in the category of intermediate states. While the physical indicator (synthetic) of social infrastructure was statistically significant in the explanation of the differences of the SGDP per capita in the category of lagging states, it was not statistically significant for intermediate states. In other words, the empiric analysis demonstrates that the effectiveness of the public investment in infrastructure depends on the composition and the characteristics of the recipient regions.

Keywords : economic growth; regional inequality; infrastructure; Hansen’s thesis; Mexico.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )