Sara Castellanos

• Ph. D. in Economics
• Senior Research Economist at Banco de México

Este documento proporciona un panorama general sobre la aplicación de la reforma energética en México respecto a la adjudicación de campos de exploración y extracción de hidrocarburos. Asimismo analiza las mejores prácticas internacionales para llevar a cabo licitaciones en materia petrolera y de gas, e identifica los aspectos más relevantes a cons...

En 2004 se promulgó en México la Ley para la Transparencia y Ordenamiento de los Servicios Financieros (LTOSF). En este documento se describen las disposiciones más importantes de dicha ley y algunas de las principales medidas que el Banco de México ha instrumentado, así como las pautas de uso de medios de pago distintos al efectivo antes y después...

Competition and Efficiency in the Mexican Banking Industry provides an excellent insight into the productivity and performance features of a major emerging economy. The text will provide an invaluable resource for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in banking system reform.– - Philip Molyneux, Professor of Banking and Finance, Ba...

Banks are important in mobilizing and allocating savings in an economy and can solve important moral hazard and adverse selection problems by monitoring and screening borrowers and depositors. Besides, banks are important in directing funds where they are most needed in an efficient manner and have direct implications on capital allocation, industr...

In this chapter, we analyze the competition conditions and the efficiency of Mexico’s banking system for the period 2002–2012, using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique and the Boone indicator to assess efficiency and competition, respectively. Besides presenting the efficiency estimations before and after the 2008 financial crisis that a...

The analysis of the structure and efficiency of the financial system is the baseline to design and implement a competition policy. Likewise, competition policy is an institutional means to improve the efficiency of the financial industry. However, the effective implementation of a competition policy in the financial system requires at least two pre...

Competition in the financial systems of emerging economies is a puzzle. The literature is insufficient and as a result, policymakers have weak empirical evidence to improve competition in the financial system. Nevertheless, it has always been the case in the literature and a concern for policymakers. Mexico is not the exception among developing eco...

Over the last 40 years, the Mexican banking system has experienced several waves of consolidation. Throughout these decades, there have been cycles in which the number of participants in the industry has increased and cycles in which the number of institutions has contracted through processes of bank consolidation. This has been intrinsically linke...

We study the bancarization of marginal borrowers using credit cards and document that this process is difficult: default risk is substantial, returns heterogeneous, and account closings common. We also take advantage of a randomized control trial that varied interest rates and minimum payments in a very wide range. Against our hypothesis, we find t...

The authors investigate the payment adoption rate under consumers’ and merchants’ awareness of network externalities, given two levels of interchange fees in a multi-agent card market. For the purpose of their research, in multiple instantiations of the model (scenarios) the investigated effects are analyzed over the complete process of adoption, u...

There is little experimental evidence showing how clients new to formal banking respond to dierent credit contract terms. We measure how debt, purchases, payments and default change when interest rates change. A large sensitivity of debt and default to interest rates may limit bank prots and nancial inclusion. We also experimentally measure sensiti...

The Mexican banking sector experienced a process of liberalization which aimed towards increasing the level of competition and efficiency. This paper studies the evolution of the efficiency of the Mexican banking sector from 2002 to 2012 and also analyses its relationship with the degree of banking competition. To do so, efficiency scores are estim...

The authors investigate the payment adoption rate under consumers’ and merchants’ awareness of network externalities, given two levels of interchange fees in a multi-agent card market. For the purpose of their research, in multiple instantiations of the model (scenarios) the investigated effects are analyzed over the complete process of adoption, u...

We present a descriptive analysis of the results of Mexico’s 2009 Economic Census regarding the use of bank credit and accounts by productive entities (companies). INEGI was requested to prepare a set of statistics regarding various company characteristics that are relevant to the decisions made by institutions offering banking services. Informatio...

Investigamos la tasa de adopción de las tarjetas de pago considerando el conocimiento (la consciencia) de consumidores y comercios respecto las externalidades de red, usando dos niveles de Cuota de Intercambio en un mercado de tarjetas multi-agente. Para el propósito de nuestra investigación, en múltiples instancias (escenarios) del modelo los efec...

Investigamos la tasa de adopcion de las tarjetas de pago considerando el conocimiento de consumidores y comerciantes acerca de las externalidades de red, usando dos niveles de cuotas de intercambio (interchange fees) en un mercado de tarjetas de multi-agente. A efectos de nuestro estudio, en diversas instancias (escenarios) del modelo se analizan l...

Investigamos la tasa de adopcion de las tarjetas de pago considerando el conocimiento de consumidores y comerciantes acerca de las externalidades de red, usando dos niveles de cuotas de intercambio (interchange fees) en un mercado de tarjetas de multi-agente. A efectos de nuestro estudio, en diversas instancias (escenarios) del modelo se analizan l...

We analyze the data of credit card holding and usage in Mexico, through a sample selection model. We find that some features of the household, such as income, head's education level and ownership of assets that can be used as collateral are related with the decision of having a credit card, as previous research has shown. Furthermore, as two sided...

In this article we study the relationship between wages, unemployment and labor productivity in Mexico’s manufacturing sector. We use the data of Monthly Industrial Survey, produced by the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI), to estimate a model with the generalized method of moments for dynamic panel data of Arellano and Bond (1991). This met...

En este documento investigamos la relación entre salario, desempleo y productividad laboral en la industria manufacturera de México. Utilizamos los datos de la Encuesta industrial mensual del INEGI, para estimar un modelo mediante el método generalizado de momentos para paneles de datos dinámicos de Arellano y Bond (1991). Esta metodología, al expl...

Describimos la tendencia reciente en la instalación regional de sucursales bancarias, cajeros automáticos y terminales punto de venta en México y evaluamos si la infraestructura bancaria se ha expandido hacia regiones sin cobertura previa. Analizamos la relación entre dicha infraestructura y varias características poblacionales y económicas de las...

We describe the recent trends that characterize the location of bank branches, automated teller machines (ATM) and point of sales terminals (POS) in Mexico, and evaluate whether bank infrastructure has expanded to previously uncovered regions. Further, we analyze the relationship between infrastructure location and several economic and population c...

"Balancing Cooperation and Competition in Retail Payment Systems: Lessons from Latin America Case Studies" presents the findings of four case studies in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico) that have explored the issue of cooperation and competition in different retail payments markets, such as the automated clearinghouse (ACH) an...

This chapter analyzes the Mexican bond market. It describes policies that may have contributed to fostering capital markets and analyzes how much of the recent performance of the corporate debt market in Mexico can be attributed to them. The chapter is organized as follows. The second section describes some macroeconomic aspects and legal reforms t...

The first comprehensive examination of the importance of local bond market development in Latin America, with conceptual and comparative assessments, case studies of six countries, and new, unique data sets. Developing local bond markets is high on the policy agenda of Latin America. Bond markets are an essential component of a well-functioning fin...

This analysis of the Mexican Treasury securities primary auctions suggests that the uniform format yields higher revenues than the discriminatory format. It applies the structural econometric model proposed by Février, Préget, and Visser (2004). This model's main advantage is that it allows us to (i) estimate the parameters that characterize the di...

In Mexico, during 2004, came into effect the Law to Promote Transparent Financial Services. We describe the most salient dispositions of this law and the key measures that central bank of Mexico has implemented, as well as the usage patterns of checks, electronic funds transfers and payments with bank cards at points of sales before and after 2004....

En este artículo se analizan las subastas primarias de títulos de deuda pública del Gobierno Federal mediante el modelo econométrico estructural de Février, Préget y Visser (2002). Este modelo permite construir posturas óptimas y precios de equilibrio en mecanismos de subasta alternativos y comparar los ingresos provenientes de cada uno. Nuestro an...

This paper analyzes price formation and dynamics according to the industry structure. It divides manufacturing industries of Mexico into two groups: perfectly and imperfectly competitive. The results show that imperfectly competitive industries predominate. Then this classification is used to build consumer price sub indexes for the goods of both s...

Este trabajo analiza la existencia y la magnitud de rigideces salariales nominales en el mercado laboral mexicano utilizando información proveniente de los registros administrativos del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS). Estos registros forman una base de datos de panel a nivel de empresa, lo cual permite seguir a trabajadores empleados e...

This paper analyzes the existence and extent of downward nominal wage rigidities in the Mexican labor market using data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS). This establishment-level, panel dataset allows us to track workers employed with the same firm, observe their wage profiles and calculate the nominal...

This paper's objectives are to measure downward nominal wage rigidities (DNWR) in the Mexican economy using microeconomic data and to estimate their possible wage and employment costs as the inflation rate falls during the past decade. First, specific DNWR statistics proposed by Kahn (1997), Lebow, Stockton and Wascher (1995), and Lebow, Saks and W...

We analyze the existence and magnitude of downward nominal wage rigidities in the Mexican labor market. We use data from the administration records of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS). These records form a firm level panel data, which allows to follow workers employed in the same firm, and the nominal wage changes they experience thr...

In this article we analyze the treasury securities primary auctions of the Mexican Federal Government, using a structural econometric model of Février, Préget and Visser (2002). This model allows to make revenue comparisons across auction formats. Our analysis shows the revenue superiority of the uniform auction format over the discriminatory one....

In this paper the relationship between the spot interest rates and the term structure of interest rates (TSIR) is analyzed. Analysis is carried out through a set of tests derived from the rational expectations hypothesis. Results suggests that the TSIR contains some information regarding the future direction of movements in both short and long term...

In this paper the relationship between the spot interest rates and the term structure of interest rates (TSIR) is analyzed. Analysis is carried out through a set of tests derived from the rational expectations hypothesis. Results suggest that the TSIR contains some information regarding the future direction of movements in both short and long term...

This article uses conventional models to evaluate whether the term structure of interest rates can predict economic activity in Mexico. A positive relationship between interest rate differentials and economic activity is detected, even after controlling for the monetary policy stance through short term interest rates or monetary aggregates. The dif...

Examination of new data of the Mexican government securities primary auctions shows, not only that there exists underpricing with respect to the secondary market in CETES, the zero coupon Treasury bonds, of 28, 91, 182, and 365 days maturity, but also that such underpricing tends to increase over time, especially during the period of 1996-2000. Thi...

This article uses conventional models to evaluate whether the term structure of interest rates can predict economic activity in Mexico. A positive relationship between interest rate differentials and economic activity is detected, even after controlling for the monetary policy stance through short term interest rates or monetary aggregates. The dif...

This document uses some conventional models to measure the information content about inflation expectations in Mexico's term structure of interest rates (TSIR). It is found that in the period 1996-2000, associated with more flexible financial markets and a flexible exchange rate regime, is when the TSIR contains information regarding this variable....

This document uses some conventional models to measure the information content about inflation expectations in Mexico’s term structure of interest rates (TSIR). It is found that in the period 1996-2000, associated with more flexible financial markets and flexible exchange rate regime, is when the TSIR contains information regarding this variable. T...

I modify the uniform-price auction rules in allowing the seller to ration bidders. This allows me to provide a strategic foundation for underpricing when the seller has an interest in ownership dispersion. Moreover, many of the so-called "collusive-seeming" equilibria disappear.

En este documento se realiza un análisis empírico para medir el impacto que tiene la política monetaria del Banco de México, a través de la variación en su objetivo de saldos acumulados en las cuentas corrientes con la banca, sobre la estructura de tasas de interés. Nos concentramos en la tasa de interés de fondeo y en las tasas de interés de los C...

Bankruptcy Law in Latin America: Past and Future Modern economic theory increasingly recognizes the relevance of legaland institutional structures for the functioning and development of theeconomy. Bankruptcy laws are a crucial element of such institutions. This paper examines the laws that govern corporate bankruptcy procedures, their effects on t...

ITAM Septiembre de 2004 La serie de Documentos de Investigación del Banco de México divulga resultados preliminares de trabajos de investigación económica realizados en el Banco de México con la finalidad de propiciar el intercambio y debate de ideas. El contenido de los Documentos de Investigación, así como las conclusiones que de ellos se derivan...

El análisis de las subastas primarias de títulos de deuda pública del Gobierno Federal en México muestra la superioridad del formato de subasta uniforme respecto al discriminatorio, en términos de ingreso. El documento aplica el modelo econométrico estructural de Fevrier, Preget y Visser (2002). La principal ventaja del modelo es que permite constr...

Tesis (Licenciado en Economía) Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.