The purpose of this article is to determine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on a country's overall economy rather than simply the sectors receiving such investment. The strategy consisted of adopting a crowding-in/crowding-out approach to Mexico's total capital volume in the 1993-2010 period. The substitutability of foreign and local capital implies a lower-than-expected economic dynamism. Using a dynamic panel analysis, a negative relationship was found between FDI and the general wage. Throughout the analysis, firm size stands out as a key variable in explaining the impact of FDI.