The overall goal of this thesis is to investigate the applicability of a landscape planning methodology that is founded on an ecosystem-based approach and focused on the delineation of ecologically sensitive areas. Its design is concerned with an ecosystem-based management approach as part of a broader landscape planning process that is intended to achieve environmental sustainability objectives; the key idea is that an ecosystem/landscape scale may well be the most important for the attainment of sustainability. Considering this, this research supports the idea that the employment of a network of watershed-ecosystem units provides an appropriate framework for planning towards sustainability at the landscape scale. In addition, the design of this methodology also gives room to solve theoretical and practical problems. The main theoretical problem is related to the generation of overall schemes that are consistent with holistic-multidimensional viewpoints about patterns and processes in landscapes. On the other hand, two practical problems are also confronted: the need to employ ecological principles and spatial concepts in landscape planning and the development of strategies to define and delineate areas of interest to planners. In this research this point is focused on the delineation of ecologically sensitive areas. In order to test the application of the planning methodology to a real-life context, the Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl volcanoes National Park region of Mexico was selected. This region is recognised as a typical example of a fragile mountain region. The major contributions of the thesis are related to theoretical and practical issues in an ecosystem-based management approach. In practical terms, results derived from the practical case study provide important inputs (database, diagnosis and proposals) to improve the planning process of the Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl region. Also, this methodological approach can be useful to solve the problems linked to fragile mountain ecosystems. It is concluded that ecosystem-based management is taking shape as an ecologically well-founded potential landscape planning approach, capable of playing the role of creating more sustainable regional systems and of searching for enduring multifunctional landscapes for the future.

Mexico has experienced deep transformations in its economic model since the beginning of the 1970s.I t has moved from an almostc losed-to-tradee conomyt o a very open economy and one of the least guided by public sector forces. However, the presence of wide disparities in social development and economic growth across the Mexican states may be a serious obstacle to the further integration of the national economyt o the free trade agreementsa nd the global economy.I n this context, the main focus of public policies has been growth at the national level, while regional policies are merely national policies with strong territorial implications. This thesis studies factors that may affect the regional pattern of growth and contribute to the debate around the need for regional polices in Mexico. The main aim of this thesis is to examine for the Mexican regions the regional distribution of, and effects on regional growth of, three of the main factors that have been highlighted in the standard economic literature as determinants of growth: public investment, human capital and science and technology. To the extent that these factors have a positive effect on regional growth, they may be used as a central focus in a regional policy aimed at reducing disparities between regions. The analysis has shed some light on important issues for regional development in Mexico and the extent to which a regional policy is needed. Although there is a positive effect of human capital, especially of medium level education, on regional growth, public investment seems to be allocated following more political interest than efficiency or redistribution, while science and technology still has to develop to achieve an important effect on growth. 1

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This thesis discusses the globalising processes undergone by a segment of the Mexican business class, notably: the spaces of the world economy they control; their links to social and political networks of global scope, as well as to global movements and currents of thought; and the interests, strategies, projects and perceptions which they share with their counterparts around the world. It argues that they have become one of the main and most powerful forces for the integration of the country in the global capitalist system. Globalising processes lived and promoted by the Mexican business class are contradictory in several respects: on one hand, modernisation, institutionalisation and depersonalisation of corporate structures and of the system of business representation is hindered by business clientelism and corruption in party funding. On the other hand, increasing opportunities of expansion, globalisation and modernisation for Mexican corporations do not always correspond with prospects for growth and development for the national economy. The formation of a global business class in Mexico is conceived as a process in which big businessmen reconstitute their identity, projects and aspirations in a process of collective reflexivity whereby they discuss, negotiate and share experiences with business communities around the world.

Sustainability has become vitally important in recent decades, especially in developing countries with high percentages of indigenous peoples and serious problems related to poverty in rural areas. In several countries of Latin America, indigenous communities are valued for their unique features, cultural attractions and diversity of their landscapes, however, these communities do not have many options for their subsistence. Ecotourism can be a reliable source of sustainable economic development in regions with fewer options, given that the nature of the ecotourism product can be founded upon the cultural and ecological capital of indigenous peoples, taking place in biodiverse natural areas, employing vulnerable local groups, engaging with local businesses, and the informal sector. This doctoral thesis critically assessed and examined the potential of ecotourism to support the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) for ecological protection and poverty reduction in indigenous communities of Latin America; with particular reference to two ecotourism projects led by the Hñahñu community of El Alberto, state of Hidalgo in central Mexico. This research project analysed key literature concerning the evolution of sustainable development on planning and policy-making towards the importance of indigenous sustainability. Furthermore, by employing the tourism value chain analysis (TVCA) during the fieldwork research it provides insights in the context of stakeholder engagement and ownership and documented benefits of indigenous peoples informal participation within the ecotourism market. Also, through the TVCA, the impacts of ecotourism strategies on the livelihoods of indigenous peoples are empirically evaluated, and the benefits that these bring to achieve poverty reduction through sustainable development. The research findings suggest that ecotourism represents a viable source of support for the achievement of the global SDGs in regions with few other options, and that a good performance of the TVC can significantly improve ecotourism management and foster sustainable development and poverty reduction within the process, providing as a refreshing counterexample to several well-publicised failures, an account of an indigenous community that has succeeded in its ecotourism projects against all odds. The conclusions relating to the sustainable development of the ecotourism projects in indigenous communities were drawn into a conceptual framework based on key recommendations that can assist the Hñahñu community of el Alberto to overcome constraints among their TVC and strengthen their ecotourism endeavours. The lessons learned from the Hñahñu ecotourism projects can be also used by other indigenous peoples in similar conditions, these include: the weight of community engagement in ecotourism through indigenous inception as a local initiative, transparency and accountability; gender equality, effective marketing; the role of the government; and the right involvement of the private sector.

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This thesis examines the contribution of the bottom-up approach towards local economic development (LED) in Mexico. It applies a combination of methodologies to assess if the growing importance of this approach in the public policy arena is supported by a more focused and systematic analysis. In doing so, the aim is to offer a broader and deeper understanding of the key elements of the bottom-up perspective and their specific impact on the economic and social development of places, by considering a large sample of Mexican municipalities; and to better comprehend the effects of local actions and interactions on the shape and effectiveness of those key elements by focusing on two municipalities, which have adopted different strategies. The first part of the empirical analysis uses a quantitative methodology and presents – to the best of our knowledge – the first nationwide quantitative assessment of the impact of the constituents of the bottom-up approach on the development fortunes of local jurisdictions. The analysis relies on a purpose-built database of 898 municipalities in Mexico and on heteroscedasticity-consistent ordinary least square (OLS) regression methods to evaluate whether the implementation of six different components of the bottom-up development strategies – development plan, sustainability, entrepreneurship, capacity building, participation mechanisms, and development links – has delivered greater human development across Mexican municipalities. The results of the analysis indicate that municipalities engaging in LED have witnessed improvements in human development, relative to those which have overlooked it. The increase in human development has been greatest for those local authorities which have pursued capacity building, the establishment of development links and which have drafted a development plan based on a local diagnosis. The second part of the analysis uses a case-study methodology to dig deeper on two Mexican municipalities – Apizaco and Chiautempan – located in Tlaxcala, one of the Mexican states which has set up an institutional framework aimed at encouraging greater participation. Our findings reveal that while the implementation of certain aspects of the bottom-up approach have had a clear relevant positive contribution to economic and social development, a series of local challenges have clearly shaped the effectiveness of the LED strategies applied in both municipalities. In addition, the analysis shows that Apizaco, the local authority which pursued LED in a more comprehensive way, experienced a greater improvement in socio-economic development.

This thesis is composed of three empirical essays that analyse different development and labour economics issues about Mexico and its emigrant population residing in the United States. The first essay examines the role of occupational segregation in explaining the low wages among first, second and third generation Mexican immigrants in the United States. Mexican-Americans earn lower wages than blacks mainly because they possess less human capital. With respect to whites, their lower wages are also a product of their smaller rewards for skills and underrepresentation at the top of the occupational structure. Occupational segregation constitutes an important part of the wage gap between natives and Mexican-born immigrants. For subsequent generations, the contribution of occupational segregation to the wage gap varies significantly between groups and according to the decomposition used. The second essay examines whether Seguro Popular, a free-of-charge publicly provided health insurance program for otherwise uninsured households, crowded-out private transfers in Mexico. Using data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, the effects of Seguro Popular are identified using the spatial variation in the program's coverage induced by its sequential roll-out throughout Mexico. The results show that Seguro Popular reduced on average a household's probability of receiving private transfers by 5.55 percentage points. This finding appears to be driven by domestic private transfers, since the program's effects are only statistically significant for private transfers originating within Mexico. In addition, Seguro Popular had a weak and not statistically significant negative effect on the amount of private transfers received. Failure to take into account possible changes in private behaviour induced by Seguro Popular may overstate the program's potential benefits or distributional impacts. Finally, the third essay studies the effect of students' exposure to violent crimes on educational outcomes. Driven by drug-trade related crimes, homicide levels in Mexico have dramatically increased since 2007. Using school level data, a panel of Mexico's primary and secondary schools from 2006 to 2012 is constructed to analyse the effect of exposure to homicides on standardised test scores and grade failure rates. The results show that a one-unit increase in the number of homicides per 10,000 inhabitants reduces average test scores between 0.0035 and 0.0142 standard deviations. This effect is larger in secondary schools, stronger if the homicide occurs closer to the examination date, and is stable when using either total homicides or drug-trade related homicides to measure crime. Higher homicides rates are also associated with an increase in the grade failure rate. Early exposure to homicides has potential long-term consequences since it may affect educational attainment levels and future income streams.