Three studies on Mexican agriculture

This dissertation is composed of three studies aimed to analyze several aspects of the agricultural sector in Mexico including efficiency, agricultural Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the effects of foreign economies on Mexican agriculture. The first study, "Chinese Competition and its Effects on Mexican Agriculture" was made to determine if changes in Mexican, U.S. and Chinese economies have had a significant effect on the agricultural labor market in Mexico. Empirical results indicate that the demand for agricultural workers in Mexico is affected by the real relative manufacturing wage between Mexico and China and also by Mexico's GDP. The second study called "Agricultural Production Efficiency Analysis in Mexico using Data Envelopment Analysis" was designed to analyze the agricultural production efficiency for the 32 States in Mexico. Using both input and output-oriented analysis results show that there are only five States in Mexico that have an efficient agricultural production, these States are: Guerrero, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco and Yucatán. The rest twenty seven States of Mexico present several degrees of agricultural production inefficiency. Having 27 out of 32 States with inefficient agricultural production, it was concluded that the agricultural production in Mexico is inefficient. The third and final study "Foreign Direct Investment in the Mexican Agricultural Sector" examined the potential causal link between agricultural FDI, agricultural exports, and agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) in Mexico. Results in this study show a bi-directional causality between agricultural FDI and agricultural exports in Mexico. On the other hand, results show only a one way causality from agricultural GDP to agricultural foreign direct investment.