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The Effects of Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico since NAFTA

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  • Andreas Waldkirch

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Mexico has increased dramatically since the inception of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), raising questions about its effect on the Mexican economy. This paper studies the impact of FDI on industry productivity and wages over the first 10 years of NAFTA, paying particular attention to the source country and destination industry of investments. It also offers a detailed description of the evolution of FDI, its components, sectoral composition and sources from 1994–2005. There is evidence of a positive effect of FDI on productivity, particularly total factor productivity (TFP). The effect on wages is negative or zero at best, suggesting a divergence from productivity over this time period. The positive productivity effect stems largely from US FDI into non‐maquiladora industries, which receive over two‐thirds of manufacturing FDI. There is no evidence that more distant source countries have a differential effect. Consistent with theoretical expectations, FDI into maquiladoras benefits unskilled workers at the expense of skilled workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Waldkirch, 2010. "The Effects of Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico since NAFTA," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 710-745, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:33:y:2010:i:5:p:710-745
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2009.01244.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Das Minakshee, 2020. "Does Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Promote Socioeconomic Development? Evidence from Advanced, Emerging-market, Developing and Transition Economies," Man and the Economy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Antonio Martuscelli & Michael Gasiorek, 2019. "Regional Integration And Poverty: A Review Of The Transmission Channels And The Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 431-457, April.
    3. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Gabriele Tondl, 2011. "Do determinants of FDI to developing countries differ among OECD investors? Insights from Bayesian Model Averaging," FIW Working Paper series 076, FIW.
    4. Jaime DE MELO & Julie REGOLO, 2013. "Labor Markets in Regional Trade Agreements: What Do We Know ?," Working Papers P69, FERDI.
    5. Benedikt Heid & Mario Larch & Alejandro Riaño, 2011. "Maquiladoras and Informality: A Mixed Blessing," CESifo Working Paper Series 3689, CESifo.
    6. Víctor Hugo Torres Preciado & Mayrén Polanco Gaytán & Miguel A. Tinoco Zermeño, 2017. "Dynamic of foreign direct investment in the states of Mexico: An analysis of Markov's spatial chains," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 62(1), pages 163-183, Enero-Mar.
    7. J. Eduardo Ibarra‐Olivo & Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, 2022. "FDI and the growing wage gap in Mexican municipalities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(6), pages 1411-1439, December.
    8. Parajuli, Shanta & Kennedy, P. Lynn, 2010. "The Exchange Rate and Inward Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico," 2010 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2010, Orlando, Florida 56459, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Cesaire, Chiatchoua & Santabárbara-Sabino, Alejandro Mario, 2015. "Inversión extranjera directa y empleo en el Estado de México: ¿Qué distribución sectorial?," eseconomía, Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, vol. 0(42), pages 33-50, primer se.
    10. Rene Cabral & Andre Varella Mollick & Joao Ricardo Faria, 2010. "Capital and Labour Mobility and their Impacts on Mexico's Regional Labour Markets," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 1523-1542.
    11. Eduardo Saucedo & Teofilo Ozuna & Hector Zamora, 2020. "The effect of FDI on low and high-skilled employment and wages in Mexico: a study for the manufacture and service sectors," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Yap, Josef T. & Aldaba, Rafaelita M., 2009. "Investment and Capital Flows: Implications of the ASEAN Economic Community," Discussion Papers DP 2009-01, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    13. Chan Sok GEE & Mohd Zaini Abd KARIM, 2011. "Fdi´S Country Of Origin And Output Growth: The Case Of Malaysia?S Manufacturing Sector, 1991-2006," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 11(1).
    14. Emre Gökçeli & Jan Fidrmuc & Sugata Ghosh, 2022. "Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth and Domestic Investment: Evidence from OECD Countries," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 190-216.
    15. Hosoe, Nobuhiro, 2022. "Economic de-integration in North America and foreign direct investment from Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    16. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Gabriele Tondl, 2015. "Robust determinants of OECD FDI in developing countries: Insights from Bayesian model averaging," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1095851-109, December.
    17. Téllez-León, Isela E. & Venegas-Martínez, Francisco, 2018. "Impacto de la inversión extranjera directa en el PIB mexicano por país de origen y entidad federativa de destino," Panorama Económico, Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, vol. 13(26), pages 47-79, Primer se.
    18. André Pineli & Rajneesh Narula, 2023. "Industrial policy matters: the co-evolution of economic structure, trade, and FDI in Brazil and Mexico, 2000–2015," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(2), pages 399-444, June.
    19. Víctor Hugo Torres Preciado & Mayrén Polanco Gaytán & Miguel A. Tinoco Zermeño, 2017. "Dinámica de la inversión extranjera directa en los estados de México: un análisis de cadenas de Markov espaciales," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 62(1), pages 141-162, Enero-Mar.
    20. Christian Deblock & Michèle Rioux, 2010. "NAFTA – A Model Running Out of Breath?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 11(04), pages 9-16, December.
    21. Kurtović, Safet & Maxhuni, Nehat & Halili, Blerim & Krasniqi, Bujar, 2021. "The Asymmetric Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on the Net Average Wages of Southeastern European Countries," MPRA Paper 107924, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Apr 2021.
    22. Hossain, Md. Emran & Islam, Md. Sayemul & Bandyopadhyay, Arunava & Awan, Ashar & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Rej, Soumen, 2022. "Mexico at the crossroads of natural resource dependence and COP26 pledge: Does technological innovation help?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    23. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10605 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Jose Romero, 2012. "Inversión extranjera directa y crecimiento económico en México: 1940-2010," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2012-12, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
    25. Zhang, Cheng & Guo, Bingnan & Wang, Jianke, 2014. "The different impacts of home countries characteristics in FDI on Chinese spillover effects: Based on one-stage SFA," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 572-580.

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    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements

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