| This work evaluates the regional allocation of public investment in Mexico in 1975, 1980, and 1985. A multiobjective two-region input-output programming model is employed in order to compare different alternative allocation scenarios for federal public investment vis-a-vis the actual allocation that took place during those years.;The main objective is to find for each year a compromise solution that seeks the minimization of the per capita labor income disparity existing between the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico City (MZMC) and the rest of the country, while at the same time producing enough output to satisfy a given level of final demand and public investment budget, the actual foreign trade specialization, and a higher level of employment for each region for 1975, 1980 and 1985.;The main finding is that each compromise solution implies an important redistribution of employment, foreign export capacity, and public investment in infrastructure for manufacturing activities and for public services in favor of the rest of the country region. However, this does not mean that the alternative rules followed by such redistribution in each year can be generalized, but will depend heavily on the existing interregional input-output linkages besides the equity objective employed in this study. Thus a finer regional disaggregation of the rest of the country should be necessary to consider in future analysis in order to specify in depth the characteristics of a deconcentration policy of the federal public investment outside the MZMC.;From a theoretical viewpoint, the model employed in this study offers a static version of allocation rules similar to the ones suggested by the mainstream models of regional allocation of public investment of the Hirschman-type and of the Rahman-type. Nevertheless, a major analytical effort to synthesize both types of models and to adopt non-economic criteria is suggested for future studies. |
