The economic returns to education in Mexico: a comparison between urban and rural areas

This study uses the Mincer equation to calculate the private economic returns to education in urban and rural areas of Mexico in the 1994-2005 period. The findings indicate that investing in education is profitable in both types of area. Returns to education were found to be greater in the countryside than in cities in most of the years analysed and at every level of education. Education in rural areas tends to be more profitable for women at the basic education levels and for men at the higher levels. In urban areas, education proved to be more profitable for men at the primary and higher levels and, in some years, for women at the lower and upper secondary levels.