In 1999, the psychologists Robert Levine and Ara Norenzayan published a study of the pace of life in 31 countries in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
They measured walking speed in city centers, the time a post office took to sell one stamp and the accuracy of 15 bank clocks in each country. Mexico came last of the 31 on the overall index. The authors called it “the archetypical land of a mañana.”
In October 2018, Senator Ricardo Monreal presented an initiative to reform Article 59 of Mexico’s Law on Public Works. At the time, the article allowed changes to public works contracts as long as they did not exceed “el veinticinco por ciento del monto o del plazo pactados en el contrato” (twenty-five percent of the amount or the term agreed in the contract).
The initiative said that such changes were frequent. It cited the intercity train from Mexico City to Toluca, whose cost had grown by more than 50 percent over the original budget.
In June 1994, the National Survey of the Values of Mexicans asked about work and time. Six of ten Mexicans over 18 believed that a company is affected if its employees arrive 20 minutes late, according to an analysis in the journal of AMAI, the Mexican association of market research agencies.
In 2023, the Mexican Association of Entrepreneurs (ASEM) found that 33.1 percent of companies in Mexico face late payment of invoices by their clients. The average delay was 48.1 days. Among companies that sell to other businesses, the share rose to 45.6 percent, El CEO reported.
In October 2022, a committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to shorten the payment term for invoices of micro, small and medium businesses from 120 days to 45.
In March 2023, the columnist Eduardo Navarrete wrote in Publimetro that punctuality, for Mexicans, is “una misteriosa carta de intención” (a mysterious letter of intent). He listed the phrases that give it away. Al ratito, “in a little while.” 10 minutitos, “ten little minutes.” Ahí mañana, “tomorrow, then.” Híjole, te la debo, “oh dear, I owe you that one.”
In January 2019, Mexico News Daily reported the annual punctuality ranking of OAG, an air travel data company. Mexico City’s international airport had an on-time rate of 83.35 percent, among the five best of the world’s major airports.