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Maquiladora Industry on Mexico's Northern Border: Impacts on Wage and International Labor Mobility

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: This paper analyzes the consolidation process of maquiladora industry in Mexico's northern border, based on the expansion context of Global Value Chains (GVC) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as forms of lowering production costs. Having arrangements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as an institutional background, there is a growing presence of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the expansion of maquiladoras as a national export-led model, mainly composed by manufactures. Through socioeconomic data analysis, we demonstrate two aspects concerning the evolution of maquiladora industry in Mexico: Job creation is related to inferior wage levels with a low improvement throughout history, which may interfere on the social reproduction of labor force; It follows the rise in undocumented immigration to the United States, creating a tighter and onerous institutional response on border control as an attempt to contain the migratory flows.

Source: Revista da ABET

DOI: 10.61999/abet.1676-4439.2023v22n1.54891

Authors: Poliana Garcia Temístocles, Rafael Alexandre Mello

Institutions: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Universidade de Brasília

Language: English

Topic: Economic Zones and Regional Development

Subfield: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas