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Copyright of Estudios Económicos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Investigación Económica is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Economia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Medunarodni Problemi is the property of Institute of International Politics & Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reviews the way in which Mexico and the European Union (EU) established a strategic partnership. In a globalized world and following the Washington Consensus both signed, in March 2000, a Free Trade Agreement (TLCUEM) which entered into force in October 2000. The good results of the bilateral exchanges plus important events in the world encouraged them, in 2016, to renovate the legal framework of the original Agreement. At the end of 2017, the negotiators finished the revised chapters of political dialogue and cooperation and on April 2018 they reached an agreement in principle on a modernized trade pillar of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement (GA). By 2020, negotiations were over. It is expected that after the trade pillar's legal scrutiny and translation, it will become part of the three-pronged GA that will also contain revamped political dialogue and cooperation pillars. After 20 years of its subscription, results are promising. Representing 26% of world GDP, the EU is a key partner for Mexico, and Mexico, with 12 free trade agreements signed with 46 countries, for the EU. The cooperation has encouraged exchanges in subjects of common interest, such as the fight against pandemic and gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how import liberalization affects formal employment across gender. The theory offers a mechanism to explain how male and female formal employment shares can respond differently to trade liberalization through labor reallocation across tradable and nontradable sectors. Using Mexican data over the period 1993–2001, we find that Mexican tariff cuts increase the probability of working formally for both men and women within four-digit manufacturing industries. The formalization of jobs within tradable sectors is driven by large firms. Constructing a regional tariff measure, we find that regional exposure to import liberalization increases the probability of working formally in the manufacturing sector for both men and women, and especially for men. However in the service sectors, the probability of working formally decreases for low-skilled women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1986 and 1990, the Mexican government reduced tariffs and import license coverage by more than 50%. The author, using micro-level data, analyzes the impact of trade reform on Mexican wages and employment. Industries that had greater reductions in protection levels, she finds, had a larger percentage of low-skill workers. Wage dispersion increased in both the non-tradables sector and, to a much greater degree, the tradables sector. This pattern suggests that trade reform increased wage inequality. The decline in import license coverage appears to have reduced relative wages of workers in reformed industries by 2%, but did not affect relative employment. Reductions in tariffs had no statistically significant effect on relative wages or relative employment. Between 1986 and 1990, Mexico under-took a dramatic trade liberalization program, reducing average tariffs and the percentage of domestic output covered by import licenses by more than 50%. Trade liberalization may have stimulated economic growth, but it may also have adversely affected workers in industries that experienced an increase in competition from goods produced abroad. This paper examines the effect of the Mexican trade liberalization program on wages and employment using micro-level data from the Encuesta Nacional de Empleo Urbano (ENEU), a survey of the 16 most populous urban areas in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigación Económica is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Economia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper studies the possible role of US trade liberalization in explaining Puerto Rico's deindustrialization. In order to address this issue, time series techniques were used. The results of the Granger Causality Test suggest that the imports made by the US from Mexico, Canada, Ireland, and Costa Rica do not explain Puerto Rico's deindustrialization. Therefore, no causal relationship was found between the imports made by the US from its NAFTA partners and the countries where the corporations that benefited from Section 936 relocated with the deindustrialization of Puerto Rico. Besides, the impulse response exercise suggests that in the first period, deindustrialization explains its variability by 100%, and in the final period, it explains 95.47%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the way in which Mexico and the European Union (EU) established a strategic partnership. In a globalized world and following the Washington Consensus both signed, in March 2000, a Free Trade Agreement (TLCUEM) which entered into force in October 2000. The good results of the bilateral exchanges plus important events in the world encouraged them, in 2016, to renovate the legal framework of the original Agreement. At the end of 2017, the negotiators finished the revised chapters of political dialogue and cooperation and on April 2018 they reached an agreement in principle on a modernized trade pillar of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement (GA). By 2020, negotiations were over. It is expected that after the trade pillars legal scrutiny and translation, it will become part of the three-pronged GA that will also contain revamped political dialogue and cooperation pillars. After 20 years of its subscription, results are promising. Representing 26% of world GDP, the EU is a key partner for Mexico, and Mexico, with 12 free trade agreements signed with 46 countries, for the EU. The cooperation has encouraged exchanges in subjects of common interest, such as the fight against pandemic and gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Económicos is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction and Aims: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) included novel rules for wine and spirits requiring parties to allow wine and spirits importers to display information required by the importing country on a supplementary label rather than on the standard label. Since the TPP negotiations concluded, alcohol-specific supplementary labelling rules have begun to appear in other trade agreements. The aim of this paper was to map the new instruments containing these rules and examine developments in the rules with implications for health information on alcohol containers.Design and Methods: Trade agreements signed after the TPP negotiations concluded were retrieved and searched for alcohol-specific labelling provisions. A legal analysis of these provisions and related exceptions was undertaken.Results: Supplementary labelling rules similar or identical to those in the TPP have been included in five subsequent trade agreements. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement also includes several additional provisions about alcohol labelling. Exceptions in the agreements provide some space for governments to defend labelling measure that might otherwise breach the rules, in the event of a dispute.Discussion and Conclusions: By securing these rules, the alcohol industry is better positioned to claim the space on the standard label as industry 'real estate' and to oppose mandatory health information incorporated into the standard labelling. These risks can be mitigated by stemming the adoption of supplementary labelling rules in further trade agreements; clarifying the text of agreements and ensuring that regulators understand that the rules do not prevent the use of 'best-practice' warning labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico, like other countries, invested in measures to attract foreign direct investment to their territories. Therefore, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1994 and NAFTA gave the status to Mexico as the largest direct exporter of the United States, a country that threatened to leave the treaty by renegotiating USMC. This research is carried out to determine the advantages and disadvantages of renegotiation based on Sinaloa's agricultural exports, with the question of whether it would negatively impact the USMC renegotiation of Sinaloa's agricultural exports, with the hypothesis that renegotiation of USMC has a negative effect on Sinaloa agricultural exports. This paper demonstrates that the results confirm the hypothesis employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a model of used vehicle trade between the United States and Mexico, countries with different environmental regulations regarding vehicle emissions. We demonstrate that the United States, with its strict environmental regulations, has a motive to export used vehicles to Mexico, which impacts air pollution emissions from vehicle driving in Mexico. Using unique data on the import and registration of vehicles in Mexico after NAFTA, we find that Mexico's used vehicle imports reduce pollution emissions generated from vehicle driving mainly because of the technique effect, that is, model–age‐comparable vehicles imported from the United States emit less than those originally operated in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the empirical research around the "wage-led" or "profit-led" demand regimes. It first reviews how Kalecki, and then Steindl, approached the relationship between economic growth and income distribution. Then, empirical analysis carried out under the probabilistic approach to econometric modeling shows statistical evidence, estimated through cointegration analysis, that in the long run, in three very open economies—Mexico, France, and Korea—the wage share is positively associated with demand and output. It finally discusses the macroeconomic dilemma that almost all countries have to face, i.e., a positive effect of a high-wage policy on demand and employment may diverge from a negative effect on output compatible with external equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a long period of industrialization based on import substitution (ISI), Mexico started to open up its economy by accessing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986. The export-promotion strategy was transformed into one of regional integration with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The paper explores the impact of the opening of the economy on regional disparities in Mexico using σ and β-convergence analyses. Four different samples have been employed to control for possible data bias linked to the inclusion of oil-producing and maquiladora-based states. The results show that whereas the final stages of the ISI period were dominated by convergence trends, trade liberalization (GATT) and economic integration (NAFTA) have led to divergence. In particular, the NAFTA period is related to divergence regardless of the type of analysis chosen and the sample used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates a structural model of the balance of payments, with disaggregated exports (manufactures and other) and imports (final and intermediate), and a reduced-form model of the trade balance for the Mexican economy. The analysis identifies structural changes in the composition of Mexico's trade and the parameters that affect it across five subperiods marked by statistical breakpoints. The results indicate that a tightening of the balance-of-payments constraint may account for the post-liberalisation slowdown in Mexico's growth only during certain subperiods and that the impact of real exchange rate changes on the trade balance has diminished, most likely as a result of the increasing integration of export industries into global supply chains. The results also suggest an asymmetry, whereby a country cannot sustain growth above the rate consistent with balance-of-payments equilibrium, as expected, but it can grow persistently below that rate when other constraints are more binding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a comprehensive long-run analysis of the global spatial concentration and locational dynamics of manufacturing agglomerations in Mexico. While prior research on Mexico has examined the impact of trade liberalisation on processes of regional convergence or divergence, effects on the scale, location and dynamics of agglomerations and local specialisation remain underexplored. To address this gap in the literature, we use a newly-collated municipality-level dataset containing more granular data distinct from more frequently used state-level data. Our analysis spans the period 1950–2019, capturing the full extent of the growing importance of the manufacturing sector and providing a nuanced perspective on the evolution of agglomerations and local specialisation patterns. We investigate shifts in agglomeration during import substitution and following the introduction of trade liberalisation, examining whether new agglomerations emerged or existing ones attracted further economic activity and how these changes impacted local specialisation. In extension, we also examine recent trends, assessing the persistence or alteration of agglomeration dominance in the north of the country. In doing so, our analysis provides valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of agglomerations and local specialisation and their significance in shaping regional disparities. • Analysis of municipality manufacturing agglomerations in Mexico 1950-2019. • Import substitution is characterised by decreasing levels of global agglomeration and specialisation. • Recent decades are characterised by substantial increases of global agglomeration and specialisation. • Manufacturing has become increasingly concentrated in several core agglomerations. • Changing levels of agglomeration and local specialisation have clear implications for regional disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contaduría y Administración is the property of Facultad de Contaduria y Administracion-Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Several nations, including Mexico, are encountering problems with accomplishing the targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study addresses how to develop SDG agenda for Mexico, which may also be applied to other emerging markets with comparable profiles. Therefore, this study utilizes a newly developed load capacity factor (LCF, a detailed environmental evaluation tool) that combines biocapacity (supply side) and ecological foot (demand side) to examine the effect of renewable energy consumption and trade openness on LCF while controlling for nonrenewable energy consumption and economic growth in the case of Mexico during 1970–2017. Using the dual adjustment approach, we find evidence of long-run cointegration nexus among the series. In addition, trade openness affects LCF positively, whereas renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and nonrenewable energy consumption impact LCF negatively. Furthermore, results of the frequency domain causality show that all the variables can predict LCF in the long-term. Based on these results, Mexico should focus on promoting public understanding of green energy and environmental preservation measures and participate in the production of nonenergy-consuming and ecologically friendly products while compelling polluting enterprises to migrate to countries with less stringent environmental restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the global economic crisis, in October 2008 the Mexican government announced the ‘Programme to Promote Growth and Employment’ consisting of five steps. One of them resulted in an ambitious unilateral effort to reduce most-favoured nation tariffs. The unilateral liberalization decision emerged as a measure to encourage growth, at a time of global economic crisis. This policy is based on the wide margin of action that the government of Mexico has in improving its foreign trade regulation. This paper reviews the logic of the implementation of tariff dismantling by a developing economy such as Mexico. It analyses the Mexican trade liberalization phases and explains the negative impact on the Mexican economy’s competitiveness of high import tariffs with non-preferential trade partners. Finally, this paper presents preliminary estimates of the impact that the phase-out of Mexican tariffs had on imports during its first year of implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose — This study aims to report on the current issues facing the maquiladora industry in Mexico and the cross-border supply chain and to present suggestions for improving the situation in the future. Design/methodology/approach — Phenomenological interviews were conducted with managers overseeing various aspects of the cross-border supply chain. The resulting data were analyzed using a grounded theory methodology to uncover theoretical linkages. Findings — The results of this study show that maquiladoras experience many of the same problems as other companies in terms of managing the cross-border supply chain. Key factors such as distance, comparative advantage, and integration of the workforce cause problems everyday for the managers involved. Research limitations/implications — This was an exploratory investigation of the issues with a small number of informants and future research needs to be done to gain additional insights. As North American Free Trade Agreement enters its second decade, and the focus on global supply chain efficiency becomes primary for all manufacturers, solving the problems discussed in this paper becomes even more paramount. Practical implications — In addition to low-cost manufacturing, distance and integration are critical issues for companies to understand in their pursuit of a low-cost strategy for competitive advantage. Originality/value — The major contribution of this paper has been an improved understanding of the impediments to success in the Mexican maquiladoras. Many of the issues discussed in this paper would also apply to other global supply chains and numerous other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to shed light on the debate about the effect of trade openness on regional inequality, by exploring the specific mechanisms through which this relationship might operate. It does so by testing the hypothesis, based on endogenous growth theory, that a region’s ability to capture the benefits of trade openness depends on key regional characteristics—its critical endowments—and therefore the degree to which trade will reduce regional inequality in a given country is mediated by the geographic distribution of its endowments. I test the hypothesis in Mexico, using statistical analysis of an original sub-national dataset that runs from 1940 to the present. The results indicate that opening up to trade benefits more those regions with lower levels of education, thereby tending to reduce regional inequality. However, opening up to trade also benefits more those regions with higher levels of income and infrastructure, thereby tending to increase regional inequality. This latter effect is greater than the former, so that the overall effect of trade openness is to increase regional inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide evidence based on New Economic Geography Models and estimate the statistical effects of second nature advantages to shed some light on the locational transformation of the manufacturing sector in Mexico. Changes in regional industry shares and regional wages during trade liberalization show that the border states have gained at the expense of the old manufacturing belt in Mexico City. Furthermore, the statistical evidence indicates that that the relevant market has shifted from Mexico City to the USA. However, the relation between trade liberalization and industry location is subject to a considerable level of industry heterogeneity, suggesting the co-existence of processes of regional convergence and divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a rich dataset on traffic between members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), this paper examines industry-level trade growth since the implementation of NAFTA for five Mid-South states. Gravity model results show significant disparities across states and industries. For exports within the NAFTA region, the results show large differences in growth rates both between states and between industries. For imports within the NAFTA region, the growth rates vary more between industries than between states. Our results also confirm the importance of intra-industry trade in the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship and suggest a considerable relocation of production linked to trade between NAFTA members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture looms large on the WTO's agenda. It was the first substantive item listed in the work programme of the Ministerial Declaration launching the Doha Round, and it was arguably at the centre of the failure at Cancun. Developing countries made it clear both before and during the Cancun meeting that progress on agriculture was their primary objective. Negotiations in other areas have received less attention and progressed more slowly. This paper considers that prioritisation, and suggests that the interests of developing countries in the current round of trade negotiations are much broader than is suggested by the narrow range of agricultural issues that have dominated negotiations. A true development round would require a significant reprioritisation of many areas of the WTO's current agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the second part of the 1980s, and with the negotiation and implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico's growth-and industry-orientated policies have shifted from the realm of public policy to a market-driven domain. This paper suggests that economic openness and the empowerment of market actors is provoking a new regionalisation of Mexico's core economic activities that will play a crucial role in the coming century. For Mexico, the core of NAFTA, so to speak, encompasses a cross-border territoriality covering two key southern American states: Texas and California, and key Mexican states located from the border to the Central plateau of the country. I also argue in this paper that Mexico's changing economic territoriality, triggered by the dominance of the outward-looking economic model, is exacerbating regional inequalities that prevailed in the country even before the outset of economic reforms. This is mainly the case of Mexico's southern region, still very agriculture-orientated, and with a deficit of those export-orientated industries currently fuelling economic growth. This region is the least endowed with mobile assets-such as technology, capital, knowledge-in order to exploit the opportunities of market-orientated policies. Consequently, social cohesion is at stake, not necessarily provoked by the market, but exacerbated by it, and the market mechanism cannot by itself address this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, many states have undertaken to green their free trade agreements (FTA). As the pace of this evolution towards greener trade relations continues to accelerate, it has also been met with resistance. The inclusion of environmental commitments in FTAs has sometimes been dismissed as an attempt by high-income countries to level the playing field for their market actors by raising environmental standards abroad. Against this background, this article aims to investigate what underlying motive(s) (high-income) states pursue when they negotiate environmental provisions. Using the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as a case study, it is argued that it is possible to rely on the legalization of these commitments to unravel treaty parties’ motives for negotiating such rules in the first place. In the case of the USMCA, it is found that the agreement’s environmental commitments could be interpreted as mirroring concern either for the environment or for unfair foreign competition. A closer look at the negotiation process leading to the adoption of the agreement suggests that it was mainly – although certainly not exclusively – out of environmental concerns that stringent environmental commitments were included in the USMCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria is the property of Agrosavia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dry bean is the leading source of plant-based proteins in Mexico, yet the country's self-sufficiency shows an eroding tendency after the enforcement of NAFTA. During this period, the United States became Mexico's principal supplier of dry beans. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the price transmission for black and pinto dry beans in Mexico in the period between 2012 and 2019. The research results however reveal only a very limited relationship between the analysed prices in the two countries. It is established that price dynamics are predominantly governed by domestic market interactions rather than those transmitted across the border, hence the erosion of Mexico's self-sufficiency in dry bean cannot be entirely attributed to the trade liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the paper "The Dynamics of North American Trade and Investment Canada, Mexico and the United States," edited by Clark W. Reynolds, Jeonard Waverman and Gerardo Bueno. It informs that contributions from the three countries are carefully balanced and a broad range of problems is examined. Canada and the U.S., with annual trade in excess of 200 billions of dollars, provide the most important example of bilateral trade in the contemporary world. Their similar per capita incomes, banking systems provisions for the enforcement of contracts and common language (apart from Quebec) make adjustments easier for both parties. But in case of Mexico, differences are greater, required adjustments more fundamental and their implementation will take longer. Mexico's history of inflation, capital flight, collapse of security prices, and record levels of external debt, led to the Economic Solidarity Pact of late 1987. It included measures to restrain wages and prices reduce the budgetary deficit and, otherwise, to tighten be its. It was successful to the extent that inflation was reduced to an annual rate of tighten belts.

This paper measures the impact of increasing trade openness between Mexico and the USA resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA) on the income of small versus large farmers in Mexico. Benefits resulting from higher prices of export goods as well as losses incurred from greater import competition are considered. First, relating NAFTA cuts in trade restrictions to border prices of Mexican exports and imports, it is found that NAFTA-induced tariff reductions decreased the border price of corn, Mexico's main agricultural import, and increased the border prices of tomatoes and melons, Mexico's main agricultural exports. Then, it is shown that the rise in fruit and vegetable prices benefited small farmers more than large farmers; while the drop in corn prices hurt large farmers more. Finally, the results from the regional-level analysis suggests that the effects are stronger in the central states than in the northern and southern states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of the Mexican economy in the late 1980s has generated increasing levels of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as substantial changes in the location pattern of economic activity within Mexico. Although these developments have coincided with marked changes in Mexico's regional growth regime, previous research has focused mainly on identifying growth effects from regional endowments of physical and human capital. In this paper, we extend on this research by conducting empirical analysis that centers explicitly on identifying the regional growth effects from agglomeration and FDI. The main findings of our analysis are threefold. First, we find that both agglomeration and FDI have acted as important drivers of regional growth in the last two decades. Second, both phenomena can be linked to the materialization of both positive and negative growth effects. The variety of growth effects that we identify is in line with the locational readjustments of economic activity that have taken place. Third, our estimations also identify clear spatial dimensions to the growth effects from agglomeration and FDI; furthermore, these spatial growth effects represent an important component of the overall spatiality of the regional growth process in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how traditional multicropping milpa systems have been abandoned in a locality in southeast Veracruz. In a relatively short period of time, the economic and social fabric that allowed the people of Soteapan to maintain these production strategies was seriously disrupted. In addition, economic forces undermined the capacity of the time-honored milpa production systems to provide food security and improve household livelihoods. Trade liberalization intensified price reductions of the most important crops while support for agriculture through public policies was curtailed. A direct consequence is the weakening and abandonment of milpa systems with important negative environmental effects. Because agro-biodiversity is a critical component of sustainable agriculture, new policies are needed to recover the capacity to guarantee food security and to continue to provide important environmental services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Sigma convergence in Europe is studied from a new perspective, multi-sectoral and multi-regional of income generation. • There is a clear breakpoint in the process of European convergence, around 2008, corresponding to the international crisis. • Increase in the role of trade in explaining the domestic and total evolution of income in Europe. • Differential contribution of sectors according to their technological nature. • Need to include the productive structure and structural change in the analysis of global processes such as convergence. Abstract The promotion of economic, social, and territorial cohesion has been one of the main pillars of the construction of the European Union. This general principle has been manifest in the objectives of achieving a higher level of economic convergence, territorial competitiveness, and fostering employment creation in EU countries. The recent economic crisis has implied profound changes, not only in the path of growth but also in the structural and technological characteristics of EU countries, with these elements highly conditioning their inter-dependencies, economic outcomes, and convergence. This paper analyzes the role that the evolution of economic structures has played in the evolution of recent convergence in Europe expanding the traditional measures of economic convergence extended to a multi-regional input-output framework. Our study shows a trend towards convergence among EU countries and a significant breakpoint with the arrival of the economic crisis in 2008. Moreover, we observe a continuous change in the role of different components, raising the participation of trade (intra and extra European trade) in income for most of the countries and sectors analyzed. In addition, the different behavior of services, in particular, knowledge intensive services in the EU countries notably condition income generation in countries. Nevertheless, our results show that despite services economy explains significantly income growth in Europe over the period 2000–2014, income growth in Eastern Europe countries has notably relied on the positive reliance of manufacturing sectors (particularly medium and low technology sectors), and the expansion of conventional services, with a lower representativeness of the knowledge intensive sectors. Domestic and intra-EU markets are dominant, although also with an increasing share of extra-EU exports. The opposite can be said for central EU economies, which a smoother evolution over the period but a clear dominance of the knowledge intensive services and, in some cases, the high and medium-high technology industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We examine why Mexico's success as an exporter of manufactures has failed to translate into overall growth. • Our explanation hinges on the negative demand externalities of input outsourcing. • Outsourcing reduced demand for key manufacturing industries during 1980–1995 and 1995–2011. • The demand stimulus of industrial exports was lower in Mexico than in high-performing countries. • We use a model to examine the macroeconomic links between outsourcing and growth. Abstract In recent decades the Mexican economy has seen a dramatic expansion of exports of manufactured goods and imports of manufactured inputs. Mexico's integration with global production chains, however, has failed to produce sustained output and productivity growth. In this paper we propose an explanation for slow growth that hinges on the negative demand externalities of input outsourcing. We make two contributions. First, using input–output data we show that outsourcing has lowered domestic demand for the manufacturing sector, especially for capital-intensive basic industries. Second, we develop a model of outsourcing and capital accumulation and show that lower costs of outsourcing can hurt accumulation if, for the aggregate manufacturing sector, the negative effect of domestic demand shortfalls on profitability exceeds the offsetting effects of lower input costs and of export expansion. Our findings complement the broader literature on the apparent paradox of Mexico's success as an exporter of manufactures amid sluggish growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence which suggests that trade liberalization is one of the fundamental determinants to public health in newly industrializing nations. Using primary source interview material from indigenous people of southern Oaxaca, along with a review of the literature and quantitative data, this article contends that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with its impacts on domestic farming practises and food sovereignty has negatively impacted the health of southern Mexicans. The objective of this research project is to provide a description of the negative impacts that NAFTA has had on southern Mexico. With NAFTA 2.0 negotiations underway, this paper advocates that the voices of indigenous people should be heard at the negotiating table. Their insight on how the trade deal has impacted southern localities is of critical importance moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American Business Review is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Problemas del Desarrollo. Revista Latinoamericana de Economía is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Instituto de Investigaciones Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the mid-1990s, Northwest Mexico has been experiencing drought conditions. As Mexico's number one irrigator, the state of Sonora's agricultural sector is particularly concerned about the availability and distribution of surface and ground water. Drought has contributed to a sharp decline in cultivated area, the abandonment of land, and permanent out migration of a large sector of the rural population. This paper examines the vulnerability to drought of small farmers in the Santa Cruz and Magadalena basins, south of the Sonora-Arizona international border. Farmer's ability to respond to drought is considered within the larger context of neoliberal reform policies, social inequality, and free trade between Mexico and the U.S. By focusing on the most vulnerable, the paper argues that informal social networks and collective organization are key strategies to improve adaptive capacity, particularly for those who do not have access to state sponsored adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Problemas del Desarrollo. Revista Latinoamericana de Economía is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Instituto de Investigaciones Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The economic effects of NAFTA on Mexico have been discussed and measured mostly in terms of its effect on employment on both sides of the border and by the increase in Mexico-US trade and investments before and after NAFTA. These are the wrong ways to measure the effects of a free trade area on a member state. In this paper, I will first discuss the theoretically correct method of evaluating the economic effects of the formation of a free trade area in general and then apply this method to correctly measure the effects of NAFTA on Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican farmers altered their livelihood strategies to respond to changing market incentives. While many commercial farmers responded to falling maize prices brought on by NAFTA by shifting into the production of vegetables for export, the coping strategies of low-income farmers have been varied, from diversifying income sources through off-farm employment, to migration, to searching for niche markets for new or added-value products. In the Totonocan region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, many farmers who can no longer earn sufficient income from the sale of maize grain are turning to a byproduct of maize to generate income. The commercialization of totomoxtle, or maize husks, for domestic and international markets has not only enabled farmers to continue to profit from maize production, but it has also encouraged farmers to utilize and conserve criollo maize varieties that serve as important reservoirs of genetic diversity. Moreover, the growing importance of totomoxtle in livelihood strategies has caused some farmers to alter their maize management, selecting for better quality husks rather than for grain production. The purpose of this paper is to understand both the broad impact of NAFTA on the local agricultural economy and its more specific effects on the management of maize in the Zona Totonaca. Participation in international trade can lead to unexpected outcomes, in some cases creating new values for goods with a long history of local consumption. Commercialization of maize husks is likely to be only a temporary solution for the relief of rural poverty. Given the volatility of international markets, the long-term welfare of farmers may depend on the development of more diversified production strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]