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La Laguna: Of Exporting Jeans And Changing Labour Relations

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  • ROBINE VAN DOOREN

Abstract

This paper analyses the development of a garment cluster in La Laguna, North Mexico, since the coming into effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Employment in the local garment industry increased rapidly and working conditions improved, due to increasingly stringent buyer standards. However, both buyer‐supplier and employee‐worker relations became strained, causing some entrepreneurs to relocate operations to cheaper sites and others to adopt a modular production strategy to save on labour costs – and shift co‐ordination and management risk onto workers. La Laguna's specialisation of jeans production for export is a form of hyper specialisation that may well be required in global markets, for the sake of cost efficiency, but it also enhances the vulnerability of a cluster in the face of fluctuating world demand and changing international trade policies. As the cluster is an important part of the regional economy, the problems of the cluster have a great impact on the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Robine Van Dooren, 2006. "La Laguna: Of Exporting Jeans And Changing Labour Relations," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 97(5), pages 480-490, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:97:y:2006:i:5:p:480-490
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2006.00358.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ahlers, R., 1999. "Informe final de los estudios del IWMI en La Comarca Lagunera, Mexico," IWMI Books, Reports H025320, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Michael Hobday, 1995. "Innovation In East Asia," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 226.
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    Cited by:

    1. Evert-Jan Visser & Oedzge Atzema, 2007. "Beyond clusters: Fostering innovation through a differentiated and combined network approach," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 0705, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2007.

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