Loss of purchasing power and limited international competitiveness: indications on the wages of Mexican academics from an international comparison

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research comparing base salaries of Mexican academics in 2010. This research was part of an international study that involved 28 countries. The main results of this study were published by Routledge and the book has not been translated into the Spanish language. This unpublished paper briefly takes basic information from the chapter on Mexico but adds many other elements that had not been included in that text. Average wages of Mexican academics obtained for that year – in adjusted dollars with purchasing power parity– ranked Mexico in 22nd place of 25 countries in public higher education institutions, and 8th of 12 nations in private institutions. This confirms the idea that Mexican base wages are low compared with other countries, and were it not for the additional incentives obtained from payment programs of national or institutional merit, Mexico would be the lowest ranked compared to a spectrum of several countries including three nations of Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Colombia) and the so-called BRICS countries (including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well as another set of developed countries.