Are Mexican Net Discount Rates Stationary? An Application for Lost Earnings Damages Involving Undocumented Workers

Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence on the behavior of various Mexican Net Discount Rates (NDRs) by examining the time series properties of several yields on Mexican government securities and annual wages for nine industrial sectors. Results indicate that NDRs are characterized as a stationary series around a shift in its mean. The forecast for the mean of the NDRs should be based on the period after the time of the shift, which took place in 1994. The discussion addresses relevant case law and the application of the NDR approach to the calculation of damages for Mexican undocumented workers as an effort to equip forensic economists with the tools to conduct such estimates.