Maquiladoras and their transaction patterns

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Published: Aug 17, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17428/rfn.v3i5.1616

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Patricia A. Wilson
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

Abstract

Basándose en los resultados de la encuesta reportada en su libro Free Trade and local Development, la autora muestra que el relativamente alto porcentaje de materiales mexicanos que utilizan las maquiladoras en el interior de México no es resultado de una gran demanda por parte de la inversión extranjera que haya estimulado a una industria local de proveedores. Más bien, refleja el hecho de que las firmas locales, en su lucha para sobrevivir, buscan mercados de exportación a que puedan acudir si se clasifican como firmas maquiladoras. Las maquiladoras extranjeras que están adoptando a la moderna tecnología flexible compran un mínimo de materiales de origen mexicano. Este análisis identifica las conexiones locales que se podrían duplicar o intensificar con estas firmas de alta tecnología, además de nuevas conexiones que podrían establecerse. La política del gobierno mexicano no debe limitarse al nivel nacional sectorial, sino afinarse a los obstáculos y oportunidades específicos tanto a cada sector como a la geografía del país, con el fin de transformar grupos de firmas interrelacionadas en redes transaccionales. ABSTRACTDrawing from the original survey in her book Free Trade and Local Development: Mexico's New Maquiladoras (University of Texas Press, forthcoming in 1991), the author finds that the relatively high percentage of Mexican inputs used by the maquiladoras of the interior is not a result of foreign investment creating enough demand to stimulate a local supplier industry. Rather, it is the result primarily of local firms seeking to survive by looking for export markets through maquiladora status. The foreign maquiladoras that are adopting the leading edge flexible technology buy the least amount of domestic inputs. The analysis identifies the local linkages that could be replicated or strengthened among these high-tech firms and some missing linkages that could be established. Public policy must not be limited to broad national-level sectoral policy, but rather finely tuned to the obstacles and opportunities specific to both place and sector for transforming clusters of related firms into effective transactional networks.

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How to Cite
Wilson, P. A. (2017). Maquiladoras and their transaction patterns. Frontera Norte, 3(5). https://doi.org/10.17428/rfn.v3i5.1616
Issue
Vol. 3 No. 5 (1991): enero-junio, 1991
Section
Papers

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