Die Verteilungswirkungen von Wirtschaftskrise und Anpassungspolitik in Mexiko

The Mexican debt crisis and adjustment policies following the financial breakdown of 1982 had serious social consequences. Covering the administration De la Madrid (1982 - 1988) the article reviews the available information about variations in primary incomes. The distributive changes are analysed according to the classic cleavages capital/work, formal/informal and urban/rural sector. Existing evidence suggests that members of the urban informal economy were as hard hit as the formal sector workers who experienced a halving of their remunerations within a few years. Agricultural incomes seem to have been relatively protected only during the first years of the crisis. Finally, a small group of entrepreneurs located simultaneously in various economically strategic positions can be identified as unequivocal beneficiaries of the crisis. -English summary