Declining Wages for College-Educated Workers in Mexico: Are Younger or Older Cohorts Hurt the Most?

Abstract

Wage inequality declined in Mexico since 2000. This paper investigates the possible channels on why the wages of high-skilled workers have declined. Using data from Mexican labor surveys for the period between 2000 and 2014, we investigate if the decline was driven by wages declining more sharply for younger or older workers. We find that wages of older workers declined and the decline was more pronounced the older the cohort.  This would seem to support the hypothesis that older workers’ skills became obsolete.