The Mexican Economy, 1870-1930: Essays on the Economic History of Institutions, Revolution, and Growth

Until the last decades of the nineteenth century, Mexico faced the twin problems of chronic political instability and slow economic growth. During the period of the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship (1876-1911), however, a series of institutional reforms reignited growth and created rents that enabled the Díaz government to threaten its opponents with military force or to buy them off.

These institutional reforms came out of distinctly political processes, which often had to be brokered among mult...