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The objective of this paper is to verify if the urban population of the municipalities of the northern border of Mexico has higher incomes than those of other municipalities in the country, while suffering worse living conditions; that is what some authors have called "border development paradox". To verify this issue, proportions were compared based on multidimensional poverty data from Coneval for the period 2008-2020, and more municipalities and population were considered than in any previous research. The results show that urban residents of the northern border have higher incomes, but also better access to services and less social deprivation. These results--which contradict some previous research, but confirm others--are maintained throughout the entire period analyzed and with different territorial groups. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no evidence of said paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the Trump administration's violent practices toward Central American and Mexican asylum-seeking families as a defensive response to the legal framework that grants them this protection tool in their relationship with the State. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with migrant families in Tijuana during 2017-2020, it is concluded that the various measures implemented sought to limit asylum as a right and to configure an illegal subject based on suspicion, criminalization, and trauma. In this way, it was sought to reverse the character of legality that protects asylum seekers and rebuild a dominant vertical relationship of racialized subjection. The analysis seeks to contribute to migration studies by understanding the tension between the legality of asylum and the Trump administration's actions to disrupt this framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the formulation of the decision agenda of "Río Sonora" Trust (FRS)'s Technical Committee (TC), established in 2014 to compensate for the damage caused by Buenavista del Cobre Company's copper leach spill in the Sonora River Basin. The Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) (Kingdon, 2014) was used to analyze the participation and criteria for technical feasibility and the anticipation of future limitations of the alternatives discussed by the FRS' Technical Committee. The analysis showed that the approved alternatives were formulated and implemented by hidden participants and characterized by their high visibility, low compliance with the technical feasibility criteria, and long-term costs aversion. The results contribute to the understanding of the MSA virtues for the analysis of the remediation of environmental disasters agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the sociocultural adaptation strategy of a group of mestizo migrants from Chiapas residing in "Buenavistita," Laurel, Maryland, U.S. The methodology is qualitative, based on interviews and participant observation. The findings allow us to argue that the migratory experience forces them to loosen their identity boundaries inward the ethnic group to reconstitute themselves, survive away, and maintain their Mexican mestizo status. Resulting in the formation of territorial enclaves where they identified against those who label them as illegal, this being the way to defend themselves in a racialized society. This work contributes empirically to migration studies with the case of Chiapanecos mestizos. Although we conclude that the enclave is for them a refuge area, little can be said about other experiences of migrants from Chiapas around ethnicity and the blend of cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests considering the cosmo-political proposal made by some authors as a possible analytical framework for the study of socio-environmental conflicts involving indigenous peoples. By exploring ethnographic examples of western and northern Mexico, this article shows how the territoriality inhabited by indigenous peoples should be conceived in relational terms, and its component elements cannot be thought of as exploitable resources, the paper also described how the political demands of indigenous peoples are based on the network their embedded relationships whith humans, deities, ancestors, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to mortality statistics, in Mexico, during the period 2002-2010, 393 people died by excessive natural heat, mostly in the northwest of the country. Information about these cases is valuable for understanding the social determinants of health associated with this cause of death, so in this paper we analyze the characteristics of dead people that reveal their social situation. The statistics, for example, show that most of the victims were men, most of whom had a low socioeconomic status. This paper explores and opens several lines of research on the impact of high temperatures on the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T his paper analyzes the economic vulnerability and economic resilience of Baja California, Mexico, in the context of the 2007 international financial crisis. A methodological approach is proposed to develop vulnerability and resilience indexes, and the region's economic performance from 2003 to 2014 is compared to the other entities. Economic performance is measured by unbundling the SGDP into its cyclical and non-cyclical components (trend). In conclusion, when faced with an external shock, Baja California shows economic vulnerability but also strong economic resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did a wild carnival in ports of Sonora's Guaymas and Sinaloa's Mazatlan develop in the nineteenth century. The objective of this paper is to analyze the carnival and its relations with power. The conclusion is that a riotous carnival was a response to an equally wild society. Our argument is that the transgressive carnival was born of a lack of intermixing between foreign and local families, and representatives of the economic elite of the ports. Due to the social inequalities during the government of Porf irio Díaz, neither elite nor other social groups remained separate, but diversified their economic and cultural interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments shape social problems, discourses and the solutions to solve them. In this context, the main goal of this paper is the comparative analysis of childcare policies in the following countries: Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Mexico. In order to contribute to the debate about childcare in Latin America, in the light of the frame critical analysis, the problem that each policy solves is analyzed and compared, as well as its aims and solutions. The study is based on governmental documents such as plans and programs, as well as on academic and social organizations discourses, and the literature about the topic in the Latin American region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to measure, on the basis of the Economic Censuses 2004, 2009 and 2014, as well as 2008 Input-Output Matrix, the productive specialization using the location coefficient and the relational analysis of the automotive industry in Guanajuato. The main findings are an increasing specialization of some economic activities and a permanence of a low level of contribution of locally produced inputs. All of this opens up significant challenges for industrial policy in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does presidential approval benefit from government performance at the subnational level? This article argues that in multilevel systems, in which clarity of responsibility for policy is low, presidential approval ratings are affected by citizens' evaluation of subnational government performance. This paper explores the spillover effects of citizens' evaluation of subnational government performance on presidential approval in Mexico, based on data from the 2012 Americas Barometer study. The results from ordinal logistic regressions and seemingly unrelated regressions indicate that citizen satisfaction with services provided by local governments is positively associated with presidential approval ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the diversity of economic practices around rap music by young people from three cities in the northeast border of Mexico. The approaches employed are those of youth identities, on the one hand, and creative, alternative and solidarity economies on the other. The contributions and limitations of these concepts against empirical evidence are discussed and proposed the economies of resistance. Evidence is presented through seven cases collected during the summer of 2014, through ethnographic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate the price elasticity of the demand for gasoline in Mexico. We use a panel of data that combines cross section, of the Mexican states, and monthly time-series data, from January 1997 to December 2003. The basic hypothesis that is confirmed in the paper is that gasoline demand is more sensitive to price changes in the Northern Border than in non-border regions. This result could justify the differential pricing policy adopted by the federal government, regarding the north-border region, since 2002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the relationship between female headship and family welfare by using qualitative data gathered trough semiestructured interviews to female household heads in Monterrey's poor sectors. The paper is aimed to analyze the ways by which these women reconstruct their social gender identity and organize their family strategies in order to cope with the needs they face as heads of households by considering that upon the headship experience these women reconstruct themselves not only as women but also as women who have become head of households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are some parameters of economic analysis in specialized papers that barely have incorporated the importance of the economic activity expansion over the geographical scale, no matter in medium, largest or metropolitan cities. We present evidence and hypothesis on the urban nature of economic expansion that might be able to combine the use of concentric and polycentric structure in a city with a population over 300 thousands people. The paper is developed in two main aspects of economic expansion: 1) the nature of the employment that consolidates and structures the labor market; and 2) the organization of intraurban space that is stimulated by those activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subnational governments in Mexico have been creating citizens' advisory councils on a regular basis. Through these mechanisms, governments seek to incorporate forces to challenge administrations and/or legitimize any decisions. What is really achieved? From a critical perspective, this paper studies an episode based on the work of a citizens' advisory council where the governor of Sonora, a state in northern Mexico, appointed his citizens' advisory council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research evaluates the long-term determinants of Mexican manufacturing competitiveness in the U.S. market. To perform this task, an International Competitiveness (IC) index is constructed and then a model is specified and estimated by using three different econometric methods. The empirical evidence across econometric techniques is consistent in indicating that IC is responsive to the peso-dollar real exchange rate, the yuan-dollar real exchange rate, labor productivity, wages, and the cost of credit. An important contribution of this paper is to show that manufacturing IC is influenced by the yuan-dollar real exchange rate and the real cost of credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work examines the relationship between urban water management and the culture of water, assuming that there is a contradiction between these two aspects. It focuses on drinking-water service in Nuevo Laredo. The methodology employed in this study includes a look at drinking-water management indicators, a review of the literature on water culture, and interviews with local stakeholders about the population's awareness concerning water conservation. The paper f inds that inef f icient water management practices contradict policy objectives involving the culture of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the implementation of a regional public policy that favors the development of micro and small enterprises in Baja California's economy to mitigate a gloomy employment situation. Using estimated regression models, it was found that in a global economic crisis scenario where production and employment in large companies are constrained and workers are replaced by more technology-intensive processes, the proliferation of micro and small businesses is a compensatory mechanism to minimize the ef fects of unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructure influences the location of manufacturing firms in that sense, this paper compares the influence of accessibility to ports for export and the location of manufacturing firms in two municipalities in the northern Mexico border. The tools used include the management of a geographic information system and micro-level data of the industrial parks of each municipality. Statistical analysis was based on the application of Poisson models to estimate the sets placement options. The results show that accessibility and market size have greater significance in the location of firms in both cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the power of symbolic ritual actions performed by relatives of missing persons on the land of el Pozolero, to give them a place in the social world. The construction of community mourning is analyzed in the margins of social structure (liminality), and the process by which it provides new frameworks to interpret and make sense of disappearances in the War on Drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that the academic and cultural links between students UABC Tijuana and California universities is minimal. California being one of the most dynamic regions in the production of knowledge, its great potential and possibilities have not been sufficiently exploited by students of Tijuana. Restrictions on immigration policy, lack of motivation by institutional authorities and teachers of UABC and the weak presence of actions for border regional integration of college students, was negatively associated with this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article departs from recent contributions in the study of international borders in order to build a better understanding of the US-Mexico border. Despite advances in building better knowledge of this region in recent decades, research continues to be predominantly based on fragmented disciplinary approaches. This paper considers interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to support theorizing on the border region. Building these approaches face a number of problems but it is a much-needed effort to update and improve our knowledge of the complex border realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes profiles from university presidents at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) and Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UAC H) by characterizing a number of features resulting from comparing a given set of variables. Among these variables are those that specifically involve their connection with the university and their sense of belonging to their respective regions. The relevant role that university presidents play based on the own university rules and regulations is also taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the possible inverse relationship between economic growth as measured by real per capita Gross Domestic Product by State and relative crime levels rates as measured by common, federal and the high impact crimes on relative rates per hundred thousand inhabitants. I analyze the 31 states and the Federal District of Mexico with annual data from 2003-2010. The empirical analysis is based on a panel data econometric model with fixed effects. I conclude that there is a small negative relationship between economic growth of a given entity and the crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the technological trajectory of the textile industry in Mexico. Based on the proposed Dosi (1982) On this concept, the discussion focuses on the technological paradigm, but also includes the proposal of Pérez (1986), that suggests the concept of technoeconomic paradigm, which takes into account economic and organizational. This allowed developing a fuller explanation of the itinerary followed by this industry. Research is documentary, ranging from the forties of the last century to the early years of this century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between social sciences and society has always been a matter of debate in Mexico. According to some academics, close collaboration with entrepreneurs or the government can subordinate scientific work to the interest of outsiders. In contrast, some social scientists consider that social science must contribute to solving the most challenging social problems. The debate has some peculiarities when seen from a regional perspective since relations between actors are usually more intense, academic institutions are weaker and dependence on political power may affect the quality of research. In the paper, the main debates on these topics are put forward and analyzed in an attempt to assess the possibility of a more balanced relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to describe the consolidation of the militarization of public security in Mexico, during the first four years of the administration led by President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012). Although this is not a new state response to the challenge of organized crime, during the second-generation transition government, the involvement of the armed forces has reached a peak, spreading to the sphere of the states through the designation of military men as public security secretariats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the start of the second decade of the New Millennia, Mexico's Local Governments perspectives are becoming more complex and heterogeneous. The reasons behind this situation are the effects of the emerging capacities developed by local authorities to deal with development problems. These strategies can be correctly regarded as new ways of institutional evolution. This paper attempts to describe the elements that constitute what scholars regard as the new Local Governance for the case of México, as well as some of the recent changes at local economies and societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the profile of the Argentinean and Mexican middle classes during the most recent crisis in both countries. It combines the perspectives of social vulnerability and class analysis theoretically underlying a "matrix of vulnerability and social classes." The analysis used household surveys in Argentina for 1998 and 2003 and those in Mexico for 1994 and 1996. The results show that whereas the Mexican middle class was primarily affected during the "Tequila crisis" through its physical assets (housing conditions), in Argentina, education and the labor market were the main mechanisms affected by the 2001 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the south, Mexico borders on Guatemala and Belize. These three countries are linked by natural continuums called river basins. There are six river basins on Mexico's southern border four of which are divided among Mexico and Guatemala (Suchiate, Coatan, Grijalva and Candelaria) while the remaining two (Usumacinta and Hondo) are shared by Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. This paper presents the delimitation of the six transboundary river basins and the problematic issues that explain the lack of transboundary water policies in these territories, which are now essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the environment of insecurity and violence associated with drug trafficking on the U.S.-Mexican border, and the actions taken by the federal government to dismantle criminal organizations that fight to control the market and access to border crossing points for the introduction of drugs into the united States. The assumption is that violence and insecurity have existed on the border for a long time, but that the agencies responsible for border control and security are now part of the problem because of their association with criminal gangs, which in turn have strengthened their presence by taking root among sections of border society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial activity in Mexico as a factor in development plays a key role in regional growth. The aim of this paper is to analyze manufacturing in the state of Zacatecas through the 21 Subsectors in NAICS in 1998 and 2003. Coefficients of localization, export and specialization were constructed, revealing high levels of concentration in a few activities as well as a significant trend of regional specialization in a few manufacturing industries. Lastly, decomposing the growth factors with the Shift-share analysis shows that the regional component has contributed most to the growth of manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze regional wage inequality in Mexico (1994-2003) by identifying the most important factors. The analysis is based on the "second moment" methodology proposed by Blau and Kahn (1996) and adapted by Monastiriotis (2003). The results suggest both a decrease in the total gap after 1995 and a tendency towards the homogenization of remuneration for labor within the regions, while the difference between them increases, due to aspects related to factor endowments, their prices and unobserved factors specific to the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

H-2A visas for temporary agricultural workers are very controversial, with farm-workers supporters claiming that it does not provide sufficient protections for US workers and leaves foreign workers open to abuse and exploitation. Tamaulipas presents a long tradition of rural migration to the United States in search of farm employment. The preference of US employers for Tamaulipas' workers owes to the proximity of this state to the frontier, which lowers transportation costs, and the experience of Tamaulipas' workers in very demanding activities, like orange picking. This paper analyses the level of compliance of labor contracts of Tamaulipas workers employed in the United States in the farming sector with H-2A visas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After assessing Sonora's industrialization, this paper explores whether, during the period from 1993 to 2003, its municipalities have tended towards a greater or lesser differentiation in their added manufacturing value, and whether this pattern has been influenced by the criteria for geographical allocation of state investment in infrastructure. It uses this information to review the policies that in theory, should serve as a counterweight to regional disparities. It concludes that, although the rate of municipal convergence in Sonora is relatively high, it has tended to decline. It also confirms the state's limited capacity to use its resources, to influence the regional pattern of manufacturing development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the growth and development in the municipalities of Sonora. The statistical method of principal components helps estimate an Index of Socioeconomic Development Municipal (IDSEM), which shows the concentration of development in the state; then uses an econometric model and identifies the factors that encourage the development of population in the municipalities. It also applies the methodology of Mankiw, Romer and Weill (1992), who first considered the model of Solow (1956) and then include human capital. We found that poor municipalities do not tend to grow faster than the rich municipalities, meaning that there is no process of convergence in the municipalities of Sonora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of labor productivity, the actual exchange rate and other variables on the manufacturing industry's international competitiveness (IC) during a twelve-year period: 1996-2008. To this end, we construct an IC index and estimate two generalized VAR models. The empirical evidence suggests that labor productivity influences IC to a greater extent than actual exchange rate depreciation. Furthermore, manufacturing IC increases when unit labor costs decrease; that is, when labor productivity grows faster than wages. In this way, an integral package of policy measures designed to stimulate productivity of workers may be more effective in increasing manufacturing IC than actual currency depreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specialized literature offers numerous arguments that support the postulate on the positive relation between the processes of integration and economic growth of regions. However, analyzing the results after few more than ten years of NAFTA had demonstrated that the economic growth has not arrived homogeneously to all regions, nor the states that inside them. So is the case of Sonora, located in the North border of Mexico, whose strategic geographical position promised better expectations. This paper has as objective to demonstrate again, that an economic growth model found on exogenous basis turns out pour results in medium and long term and does not leave room to enhance local capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study conducted with small and medium producers of the Valley of the Yaqui in southern Sonora, Mexico, to identify synergies between technological and organizational strategies which have had an influence on growers' organizations in the history of the Valley of the Yaqui region. The experiences of the social agents are examined to review, over a brief regional historical period, what has happened with the organizations and how technological, political and organizational aspects have evolved. Finally, whether the ambivalent agrarian policy undermined the possibility of development for the social strata growers is discussed and reflections are made on whether the social organizations have a propitious atmosphere for their survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore changes to Mondova's and Ciudad Acuña's economic structures since the mid-80's and to trace how imports substituting industrialization (ISI) and open economy models were adapted locally during recent Mexican economic history. Implementation of the ISI model was quite different in the two cities. Monclova flourished due to the government-owned steal foundry Altos Hornos de México, S. A. (AHMSA). In contrast, Ciudad Acuña, did not figure as an important economic center. However, according to data from the economic and population censuses, as well as from statistics of the maquiladora industry, economic opening wrought dramatic change to local economic structures. Ciudad Acuña has become leader of maquiladora industry statewide while in Mondova manufacturing's share in the economic structure decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work demonstrates that integration policies and activities between Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and San Antonio, Texas, are affected by each other because both entities are within the same economic and historic space. In this sense, integration policies in this region are not innovations, they are modem ways to reproduce the geographic and economic order. To analyze Nuevo Leon and San Antonio's government activities to advance into regional integration, we take into account the ideas of economic geography and economic space. At the end of the paper we show the limitations and profits of integration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of the poor local supply to the maquiladora industry settled in Mexico shows, between other things, the lack of valuation of the opportunity that has had the country to develop a strong supply industry. This paper pretends analyse the problem, in order to understand it better and to explore possible solutions. From the situation review of the six northern border states and a survey on a 30 maquiladora plants in Chihuahua City, it has been identified the main aspects like, the low technological capacity of the local industry, in order to supply the goods needed by the maquiladora plants. It is proposed as an alternative solution, a strategy oriented to attract plants with relative low technological level on the products and high technological on the process, to increase the local supply and the high skilled labour, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent studies that focused on the historical process of national identity's construction in Mexico have not emphasized enough one approach: the social representation of territory. This paper explores this topic in the XIXth century Mexico intending to demonstrate how the sense of belonging and the attachment to motherland reduce the imagined nation to the limits of the central lands, the ancient Mesoamerica excluding of the national social representations the vast north through symbolic stigmatization contrasting with the core (centre) of the country full of geosymbols and posed as a privileged source for historical memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the impact of migration and transborder relationships on the transformation of the religious field at Mexico's northern border area. Through the use of statistic and ethnographic evidence, we argue that, contact with I more religiously environment and migration, confer singular characteristics to the border religious field. However, this singularity does not necessarily imply the diversification of religious affiliations of the inhabitants of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has the purpose of showing that after the first years of North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) operations, Mexico's northern border states have been benefited differentially by improving their economic integration to United States and Canada, conducting to a distinct ranking of productive capabilities within this region. It is shown that after this restructuring process, winners are not necessarily those entities with prior best economic performance. Particularly, considering the employment growth Baja California, appears as the great winner and Sonora as the loser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the problem of irregular human settlements in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey from 1970 to 2000 through a quantitative general diagnosis that aims to evaluate the topic and link it to the planning and urban management instruments and actions that have been implemented by the government, as well as to the estimated value of the "inert wealth" that this irregular housing stock represents. The main question that I seek to answer in this article is whether the disorder and deterioration arising from the problem of irregular settlements in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, besides the structural and socio-economic factors causing a lack of adequate housing, become even more acute because of the evident dissociation between the proposals set forth in the plans and urban management in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive health services supplied by medical institutions to women in two border cities one in Mexico and another in the United States (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas) arc comparatively analysed. This paper is based on survey interviews on the supply side (hospital and clinics) and on the demand side of health services (patients). Concerning Brownsville, institutions supply a wide range of maternity services to women who behave very carefully in relation to their pregnancy and demand more specialised personnel. Regarding Matamoros, despite of the fact that local medical institutions supply a higher specialisation of medical and auxiliary personnel to women, as well is an integral attention, the use of these services is required by Mexican women at the last trimester of the pregnancy, and these services lend to be less specialised than in Brownsville. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article approaches the most important territorial aspect in the history of local work market of the Coahuila carboniferous basin: pendular mobility between localities. Are used as a support of it the economic and social conditions as much from the macroeconomic as from the microeconomic levels to recognize that work market, as an institution, takes correspondency with the environment's situations. The local work market territorial information, as well as the actors that defines it, constitute the analisys axis of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary global scenery, regions acquire new relevancy when being the geographic establishments where productive processes that promote the international economy take shape. However, the kind of insertion a region accomplishes in this concert is determined by the particular conditions of its historic development in the economic, social and political spheres and by virtue of the participation modalities its social actors assume. With this perspective, the present paper offers a first approach to the conformation process of an economic region and a management elite, the sonorenses. This as a preamble to explain the role management groups are performing today as opposed to commercial opening and the new challenges of the world economic competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]