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Beyond the Maquila Model? Nafta and the Mexican Apparel Industry

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  • Jennifer Bair

Abstract

This paper uses a comparative case study approach to explore the inter-organizational dynamics of the Mexican apparel industry's post-NAFTA export dynamism, and assesses the upgrading prospects that this dynamism entails for exporters in Mexico. The results of fieldwork conducted in three apparel-producing clusters in north, central, and southern Mexico are discussed. The key finding to emerge from this commodity chain analysis of linkages between US clients and local producers is that NAFTA-inspired full-package networks provide opportunities for some apparel-manufacturing clusters to upgrade their operations beyond the assembly-export role traditionally associated with Mexico's maquiladora plants. Evidence of industrial upgrading includes expanded employment opportunities in activities such as textile production, the generation of linkages to local suppliers, and improved working conditions in plants producing for brand-name clients. However, the upgrading process is profoundly uneven across the Mexican landscape. The extent to which national firms and workers benefit as a result of their participation in these networks is contingent on the way in which local clusters become incorporated into the apparel commodity chain, and in particular, on the type of governance exercised by the lead firms that control the organization of Mexico's export-oriented apparel industry.

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  • Jennifer Bair, 2002. "Beyond the Maquila Model? Nafta and the Mexican Apparel Industry," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 203-225.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:9:y:2002:i:3:p:203-225
    DOI: 10.1080/1366271022000034462
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. R. Kaplinsky, 2000. "Globalisation and Unequalisation: What Can Be Learned from Value Chain Analysis?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 117-146.
    2. Dussel Peters, Enrique, 1999. "La subcontratación como proceso de aprendizaje: el caso de la electrónica en Jalisco," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 31374, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
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    Cited by:

    1. Balaji Parthasarathy & Yuko Aoyama, 2006. "From Software Services to R&D Services: Local Entrepreneurship in the Software Industry in Bangalore, India," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(7), pages 1269-1285, July.
    2. Emily Blanchard & Tatyana Chesnokova & Gerald Willmann, 2017. "Private labels and exports: trading variety for volume," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(3), pages 545-572, August.
    3. Binnur Neidik & Gary Gereffi, 2006. "Explaining Turkey's Emergence and Sustained Competitiveness as a Full-Package Supplier of Apparel," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2285-2303, December.
    4. Dan Magder, 2005. "Egypt after the Multi-Fiber Arrangement: Global Apparel and Textile Supply Chains as a Route for Industrial Upgrading," Working Paper Series WP05-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    5. Jennifer Bair, 2006. "Regional Trade and Production Blocs in a Global Industry: Towards a Comparative Framework for Research," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2233-2252, December.
    6. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2007. "Nafta And The Maquiladoras: Boon Or Bane?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 374-386, July.
    7. Truett, Lila J. & Truett, Dale B., 2010. "Globalization challenges for the Mexican textile industry," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 733-741, October.
    8. Scott, Allen J., 2006. "The Changing Global Geography of Low-Technology, Labor-Intensive Industry: Clothing, Footwear, and Furniture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1517-1536, September.

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