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Due to its size and importance, the Mexican automobile industry was an important topic in negotiations for the USMCA agreement. A particularly contentious issue was the allegation that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexican parts plants has been facilitated by autocratic unions affiliated with the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM). Although this issue has been widely noted, there has been little systematic research on the topic. In this paper, we seek to fill this gap in the literature. Using panel data, we examine the determinants of FDI in the automotive parts sector in Mexico's 31 states and Mexico City (formerly DF) from 2004 to 2018. The study makes four contributions to the literature. First, we demonstrate empirically that FDI in the sector concentrated in Mexican states with a higher lagged unionization rate. Second, controlling for the type of union organization, the study shows that FDI was positively associated with states where the CTM was already well-established in the automobile industry. Alternatively, FDI was negatively associated with states where independent and democratic unions had previously organized. Third, we clarify the conditions under which firms prefer pre-emptive unionization with the CTM to the alternative of union avoidance. Finally, the study points to the importance of education and transportation infrastructure in FDI decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democratic performance and party system institutionalization (PSI) are thought to be integrally linked. Electoral volatility is an important dimension of PSI and has thus been the focus of many studies. Despite the attention given to electoral volatility, its determinants remain elusive. We examine the determinants of electoral volatility in 35 African countries from 1972 to 2010. This study extends the prior literature by analyzing the effects of two previously unexamined variables, foreign aid and structural adjustment, on electoral volatility. Our results indicate that electoral volatility is lower when foreign aid is high, while structural adjustment programs are associated with increased volatility. Our findings contribute to the research on the political economy of aid, illustrating the impact of these economic practices on election outcomes. Political institutions and social demography also appear to affect volatility. Based on our analysis, the party systems of Africa generally do not appear to be institutionalizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the variation in the number of strikes, and days lost to strikes, in the Mexican automobile industry. The analysis draws on an original data set on strikes in 11 Mexican finished vehicle plants for the period of 1980 and 2012. The statistical models are estimated using pooled Poisson and negative binomial regression. The findings of the study provide empirical support for perspectives that emphasize the legacies of state corporatism, and theories that focus on the effects of regional integration. Unions that were independent from the Confederation of Mexican Workers, and democratic unions, were associated with a higher count of strikes, and strikes of longer duration in each plant. Higher tariffs on imported vehicles also had a positive effect on strikes. However, the ratio of exports to national production in each firm was associated with a reduction in the number and duration of strikes. After adjusting for these influences, lagged real wage changes in each plant, local unemployment rates, and other factors had no influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]