Recovery of a Mexican cluster: devaluation bonanza or collective efficiency?

Mexico, as many other developing countries in Latin America and elsewhere, has been moving in the 1980s toward a liberalized trade regime after a long period of import substitution. This paper analyzes the impact of trade liberalization on the cooperative behavior of shoe firms located in a cluster in Guadalajara. The empirical evidence shows that cooperation has increased. It also suggests that cooperation positively influences firms' performance and together with a favorable market environment contributes to the cluster's recovery. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in Guadalajara in 1996. Qualitative information was collected through in-depth interviews and quantified responses came from a questionnaire survey covering a sample of 63 shoe manufacturing enterprises.