Mexican northern border municipalities, financial dependence and institutions

Authors

Jorge Ibarra Salazar
Andre V. Mollick, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-12-2006

Abstract

Mexican northern border municipalities have experienced economic and populational growth rates that are much higher than other Mexican regions resulting in higher demand for public services and infrastructure. The different institutional framework, both fiscal and legal, faced by municipalities in every Mexican State might impact the fiscal behavior of local governments. This article examines whether border municipalities are more financially dependent on central authorities due to the high demand for public services in their jurisdictions and their inability to obtain sufficient funding. Several econometric models are estimated for 300 Mexican municipalities in the year 2000. A strong and negative relationship between income and financial dependence is found, as expected. We also learned that institutional and regional factors should not be omitted in the model specifications. Statistical theory based on the estimations shows that the border municipalities of Ciudad Juárez and Puerto Peñasco have systematically lower financial dependence than others. However, there is no general rule regarding border municipalities and financial dependence.

Comments

© Springer-Verlag 2006. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-005-0036-4

Recommended Citation

Ibarra Salazar, J. and Mollick, A.V., 2006. Mexican northern border municipalities, financial dependence and institutions. The Annals of Regional Science, 40, pp.859-874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-005-0036-4

First Page

859

Last Page

874

Publication Title

Annals of Regional Science

DOI

10.1007/s00168-005-0036-4