IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecofin/v20y2009i1p66-81.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Productivity effects on Mexican manufacturing employment

Author

Listed:
  • Mollick, André Varella
  • Cabral, René

Abstract

We examine the effects of labor productivity and total factor productivity (TFP) on employment across 25 Mexican manufacturing industries from 1984 to 2000. Employing panel data methods, several interesting findings emerge. First, we observe a strong and positive impact of NAFTA on employment. Second, productivity exerts a procyclical, positive effect on employment but this effect becomes smaller after NAFTA. Third, partitions of our sample according to capital-labor intensity suggest that industries which are less capital-intensive were affected negatively on impact by NAFTA but that productivity impacted employment positively after NAFTA. In contrast, more capital-intensive industries display these results in reverse.

Suggested Citation

  • Mollick, André Varella & Cabral, René, 2009. "Productivity effects on Mexican manufacturing employment," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 66-81, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:66-81
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062-9408(08)00065-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keller, Wolfgang, 2000. "Do Trade Patterns and Technology Flows Affect Productivity Growth?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 17-47, January.
    2. Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger, John & Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2004. "The effects of structural reforms on productivity and profitability enhancing reallocation: evidence from Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 333-371, December.
    3. Jordi Gali, 1999. "Technology, Employment, and the Business Cycle: Do Technology Shocks Explain Aggregate Fluctuations?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 249-271, March.
    4. Fernandes, Ana M., 2007. "Trade policy, trade volumes and plant-level productivity in Colombian manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 52-71, March.
    5. Montes-Rojas, Gabriel & Santamaria, Mauricio, 2007. "Sources of productivity growth: Evidence from the Mexican manufacturing sector," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 263-278, December.
    6. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947.
    7. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    8. Yongsung Chang & Jay H. Hong, 2006. "Do Technological Improvements in the Manufacturing Sector Raise or Lower Employment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 352-368, March.
    9. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    10. Andreas Savvides & Marios Zachariadis, 2005. "International Technology Diffusion and the Growth of TFP in the Manufacturing Sector of Developing Economies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 482-501, November.
    11. Kamal Saggi, 2002. "Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and International Technology Transfer: A Survey," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(2), pages 191-235, September.
    12. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    13. Talan Iscan, 1998. "Trade liberalisation and productivity: A panel study of the Mexican manufacturing industry," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 123-148.
    14. Lamb, Russell L., 2003. "Inverse productivity: land quality, labor markets, and measurement error," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-95, June.
    15. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    16. Norman Loayza & Pablo Fajnzylber & César Calderón, 2005. "Economic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean : Stylized Facts, Explanations, and Forecasts," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7315, December.
    17. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    18. Seema Jayachandran, 2006. "Selling Labor Low: Wage Responses to Productivity Shocks in Developing Countries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(3), pages 538-575, June.
    19. Coe, David T & Helpman, Elhanan & Hoffmaister, Alexander W, 1997. "North-South R&D Spillovers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(440), pages 134-149, January.
    20. S.M. Thangavelu & David T. Owyong, 2003. "The impact of export growth and scale economies on productivity in Singapore's manufacturing industries," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 30(6), pages 623-635, October.
    21. Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger, John & Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2004. "The effects of structural reforms on productivity and profitabality enhancing reallocation: evidence from Colombia," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0408, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    22. Barrell, Ray & Pain, Nigel, 1997. "Foreign Direct Investment, Technological Change, and Economic Growth within Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1770-1786, November.
    23. Shekhar Aiyar & Carl-Johan Dalgaard, 2005. "Total Factor Productivity Revisited: A Dual Approach to Development Accounting," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 52(1), pages 82-102, April.
    24. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    25. Alejandro Ciruelos & Miao Wang, 2005. "International Technology Diffusion: Effects of Trade and FDI," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(4), pages 437-449, December.
    26. Ana L. Revenga, 1992. "Exporting Jobs?The Impact of Import Competition on Employment and Wages in U. S. Manufacturing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 255-284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. André Varella Mollick & Jorge Ibarra-Salazar, 2013. "Productivity Effects on the Wage Premium of Mexican Maquiladoras," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(3), pages 208-220, August.
    2. René Cabral & André Varella Mollick & Eduardo Saucedo, 2016. "Violence in Mexico and its effects on labor productivity," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 56(2), pages 317-339, March.
    3. René Cabral & Jorge Alberto Alvarado, 2021. "The Role of FDI on Exports Performance: Evidence from the Mexican States," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 44(6), pages 684-708, November.
    4. 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.
    5. Marco Antonio Márquez Mendoza, 2012. "Efectos de derrame y de retroalimentación industrial en América del Norte: un enfoque nacional e internacional," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(1), pages 1-34, May.
    6. René Cabral & André Mollick, 2012. "Mexico’s regional output convergence after NAFTA: a dynamic panel data analysis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(3), pages 877-895, June.
    7. Pedro H Albuquerque & Prasad R Vemala, 2023. "Femicide Rates in Mexican Cities along the US-Mexico Border," Working Papers hal-04167930, HAL.
    8. Hamid Beladi & Saibal Kar & Sugata Marjit, 2013. "Emigration, Finite Changes and Wage Inequality," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 61-71, March.
    9. Sangho Kim, 2014. "Estimating Productivity Growth In The Korean Economy Without Restrictive Assumptions," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(2), pages 520-532, April.
    10. Manuel David Cruz, 2022. "Labor productivity, real wages, and employment: evidence from a panel of OECD economies over 1960-2019," Working Papers PKWP2203, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andre Varella Mollick & Rene Cabral Torres, 2007. "Productivity Effects on Mexican Manufacturing Employment before and after NAFTA," CID Working Papers 152, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    2. Krammer, Marius Sorin, 2008. "International R&D spillovers in transition countries: the impact of trade and foreign direct investment," Kiel Advanced Studies Working Papers 446, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Blalock, Garrick & Veloso, Francisco M., 2007. "Imports, Productivity Growth, and Supply Chain Learning," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1134-1151, July.
    4. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2014. "Assessing the relative importance of multiple channels for embodied and disembodied technological spillovers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 272-286.
    5. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan & Hoffmaister, Alexander W., 2009. "International R&D spillovers and institutions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 723-741, October.
    6. Papageorgiou, Chris & Savvides, Andreas & Zachariadis, Marios, 2007. "International medical technology diffusion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 409-427, July.
    7. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    8. Keller, Wolfgang, 2010. "International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology Spillovers," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 793-829, Elsevier.
    9. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    10. Muhammad Ali & Uwe Cantner & Ipsita Roy, 2017. "Knowledge Spillovers Through FDI and Trade: The Moderating Role of Quality-Adjusted Human Capital," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 357-391, Springer.
    11. James B. Ang & Jakob B. Madsen, 2011. "Can Second-Generation Endogenous Growth Models Explain the Productivity Trends and Knowledge Production in the Asian Miracle Economies?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(4), pages 1360-1373, November.
    12. Raffaello Bronzini & Paolo Piselli, 2006. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity: the role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 597, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    13. Cem Ertur & Antonio Musolesi, 2017. "Weak and Strong Cross‐Sectional Dependence: A Panel Data Analysis of International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 477-503, April.
    14. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2017. "Innovations, growth and participation in advanced economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-351, April.
    15. Hübler, Michael, 2011. "Technology diffusion under contraction and convergence: A CGE analysis of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 131-142, January.
    16. Jürgen Antony & Thomas Grebel, 2012. "Technology flows between sectors and their impact on large-scale firms," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(20), pages 2637-2651, July.
    17. Tica Josip & Šikić Luka, 2019. "Endogenous Convergence and International Technological Diffusion Channels," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 34-53, December.
    18. Damijan, Jože P. & Kostevc, Crt, 2007. "Knowledge Transfer, Innovation and Growth," Papers DYNREG06, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    19. Gong, Guan & Keller, Wolfgang, 2003. "Convergence and polarization in global income levels: a review of recent results on the role of international technology diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1055-1079, June.
    20. Lai, Mingyong & Peng, Shuijun & BAO, Qun, 2006. "Technology spillovers, absorptive capacity and economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 300-320.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:20:y:2009:i:1:p:66-81. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620163 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.