The 1980s were a "lost decade" for Latin America, due to the international debt crisis. This paper explores the lost decade's effects on schooling indicators in Mexico. Falling opportunity costs improved schooling indicators at the same time a reduced national income worsened them. Enrollment rates were stagnant. (33 references) (MLH)

Lays out a framework in which microeconomic decision theory and elements of information/communication theory drawn from human geography and sociology are joined in an integrated approach to the analysis of the spread of schooling among the less developed countries. Tests the model on area variations in India, Brazil, and Mexico. (BRR)

In rural Mexico, the Progresa program provided educational grants to poor mothers of children enrolled in grades 3-9 and attending 85 percent of the school days. Payments were increased at the higher grades, a premium was paid for girls enrolled in grades 7-9, and every 6 months the grants were adjusted upward to compensate for inflation. The…