Abstract
Since the early 1980s, free market policies promoting liberalisation, deregulation, and privatisation have rapidly gained terrain throughout most of Latin America, and they became part of the mainstream political discourse in the 1990s. The so-called ‘Washington Consensus’ prescribed, in a highly economistic way, the same structural adjustment recipes for all nations, regardless of their level of development, regime type, or cultural context. Many governments of developing countries now widely consider export-oriented industrialisation, driven by foreign investments, to be the most viable means of capturing the potential benefits of globalisation and a ‘fast-track’ out of poverty.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Given the marginal economic and demographic importance of the Desert-region, most statistics and analyses commonly consider this sub-region to be part of Coahuila’s Centre-region.
- 2.
Montemayor has occupied several prominent positions under the administration of President De la Madrid (e.g. Sub-secretary of Planning and Development (1982-1985), where he became closely acquainted with future president Salinas.
- 3.
One important conviction of the Montemayor administration was that (foreign) companies were often more easily convinced by fellow entrepreneurs. During his electoral campaign, Montemayor had already invited a large number of successful entrepreneurs from different sub-regions of Coahuila to establish contacts with potential foreign investors. Once in office, Montemayor invited several prominent local entrepreneurs into his cabinet, and encouraged the creation of private sector organisations for economic promotion in their respective sub-regions.
- 4.
According to cluster-theory, the value of geographic concentration of interconnected companies and associated institutions in one particular field, competing as well as co-operating, is greater than the sum of its parts (Porter 1998).
- 5.
Maquiladora is derived from the Spanish word ‘maquilar’, which historically referred to the milling of wheat into flour, for which the farmer would compensate the miller with a portion of the wheat. The modern meaning of the word evolved from its use to describe any partial activity in a manufacturing process, such as assembly or packaging carried out by someone other than the original manufacturer. Today, a maquiladora refers to a Mexican company operating under a special customs regime, established in the mid-1960s in the border areas of Mexico to absorb excess labour in the border areas and to encourage Mexican exports. Under the maquiladora-regime, (mostly foreign-owned) companies were allowed to temporarily import into Mexico on a duty free basis, machinery, equipment, materials, parts and components and other items needed for the assembly or manufacture of finished goods for subsequent export.
- 6.
Interview with José Antonio Murra Giacomán, Entrepreneur and former Secretary of Economic Promotion of Coahuila (1993-1999), Torreón, 5 June 2003.
- 7.
The industrial empire of the López del Bosque-family had started out in the late 1920s as a small commercial family business producing rudimentary aluminium and laminated articles for domestic use. Under the supportive environment of import substitution (1940-1980) (e.g. market protection, import tariffs, and low priced inputs), their operations expanded and diversified rapidly, employing more than 10,000 people in the late 1970s.
- 8.
The phase-out of the so-called Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005, which eliminated quotas on many garment exports, and the prospect of the final elimination of tariffs on garments and textiles under NAFTA at the end of 2008 already resulted in a significant ‘reshuffling’ in the global garment value chain, which above all favoured China.
References
Alba Vega, C. (1996) Los empresarios y el estado durante el salinismo, Foro Internacional, 36, pp. 31-79.
Altenburg, T. & J. Meyer-Stamer (1999) How to promote Clusters: Policy Experiences from Latin America, World Development 27, 9, pp. 1693-1713.
Audley, J. D. Papademetriou, S. Polaski & S.Vaughan (2003) NAFTA’s promise and reality. Lessons from Mexico for the hemisphere. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. [www.ceip.org/pubs]
Bell, L. de (2005) Globalization, regional Development and local Response. The Impact of Economic Restructuring in Coahuila, Mexico. Amsterdam: Dutch University Press.
Cardenas Cervera, F. & V. Redonnet (1998) El desempleo en la empresa Altos Hornos de México S.A. en la década de los noventa, Cuadernos de Investigación. Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 18, pp. 7-29.
Cooney, P. (2001) The Mexican crisis and the maquiladora boom. A paradox of development or the logic of neoliberalism? Latin American Perspectives, 28, 3, pp. 55-83.
Corrales, S (2004) Redes productivas de la industria acerera en Monclova, Coahuila, 1982-2000’. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa.
Cypher, J. (2001) Developing disarticulation within the Mexican economy, Latin American Perspectives, 28, 3, pp. 11-37.
Dávila Flores, M. (1998) Análisis del sector exportador de Coahuila. Saltillo: Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila.
Dávila Flores, M. (2001) El comercio exterior de Coahuila en 1998, Cuadernos de Investigación. Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, 24, pp. 7-91.
Dicken, P. (2003). Global shift. Reshaping the global economic map in the 21st century London: Sage (4th Ed.).
Dooren, R. van (2003) Garments on the move. The local dynamics of export networks in La Laguna, Mexico, Amsterdam: Thela Latin America Series.
Dussel Peters, E. (2000) Polarizing Mexico. The Impact of Liberalization Strategy. Boulder (Co.): Lynne Rienner.
Gereffi, G. (1996) The elusive last lap in the quest for developed-country status. In: J. Mittelman (Ed.) Globalization: critical reflections. Boulder (Co.): Lynne Rienner.
Johnson Ceva, K. (1998) Business-government relations in Mexico since 1990: NAFTA, economic crisis and the reorganization of business interests. In: R. Roett (Ed.) Mexico’s private sector. Recent history, future challenges, pp. 125-157. Boulder (Co.): Lynne Rienner
Kose, A., G. Meredith & C. Towe (2004) How has NAFTA affected the Mexican economy? Review and evidence, IMF Working Paper, 59.
Lederman, D., W. Maloney & L. Serven (2003) Lessons from NAFTA for Latin America and Caribbean countries. Washington (DC): World Bank [www.worldbank.org/laceonomist]
Mendoza Cota, J. (1999) Reubicación transnacional como impulso a la formación de distritos industriales. In: C. Ruiz Durán & E. Dussel Peters (Eds.) Dinámica regional y competitividad industrial, pp. 79-100. Mexico: Editorial Jus.
Mendoza Cota, J. (2001) Crecimiento y especialización en la región Saltillo-Ramos Arizpe, Comercio Exterior 51, 3, pp. 250-258.
Micheli, J. (1994) Nueva manufactura. Globalización y producción de automóviles en México. Mexico: UNAM.
Minello, N. & L. Barranco (Eds.) (1995) El desarrollo de una industria básica: Altos Hornos de México, 1942-1988. Monclova: Arte y Cultura Monclova.
Montemayor Seguy, R. (1994) Plan estatal de desarrollo, 1994-1999. Coahuila, por un futuro Mejor. Saltillo: Gobierno del Estado de Coahuila.
Montemayor Seguy, R. (1999) Sexto informe de gobierno. Rumbo al siglo 21. Saltillo: Gobierno del Estado de Coahuila.
Porter, M. (1998) On Competition. Boston: Harvard Business Review.
Quintero Ramírez, C. (2003) Intereses nacionales y regionalismo en los sindicatos de Coahuila In: R. Beltrán Enríquez (Ed.) Coahuila: sociedad, economía, política y cultura, pp. 149-192. Mexico: UNAM.
Rogozinski, J. (1993) La privatización de empresas paraestatales, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Rojas García, G. (2002) Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Barrio San Antonio, Unpublished report on urban poverty in Mexico.
Ruiz Durán, C., E. Dussel Peters & T. Tanura (1997) Changes in industrial organization of the Mexican automobile industry by economic liberalization. Tokyo: IDE.
Secretaría de Fomento Económico (1999) Inversión y empleo, 1994-1999. Gobierno del estado de Coahuila.
Shaiken H. & S. Herzenberg (1989) Automatización y producción global. Producción de motores de automóvil en México, Estados Unidos y Canada. Mexico: UNAM.
Simón Domínguez, N. & D. Ramírez Lugo (2001) Evolución financiera de Altos Hornos de México y su crisis actua. In: I. Rueda Peiro & N. Simón Domínguez (Eds.) De la privatización a la crisis. El caso de Altos Hornos de México, pp. 193-221. Mexico: Miguel Ángel Porrúa.
Toledo Beltrán, D. & F. Zapata (1999) Acero y Estado. Una historia de la industria siderúrgica integrada de México. Mexico: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.
Vellinga, M. (Ed.) (1999) The dialectics of globalization. Regional responses to world economic processes: Asia, Europe and Latin America in comparative perspective. Boulder (Co): Westview Press.
Yáñez Chávez, A. (1994) Geographical Industrialization in Coahuila and Mexico-U.S. Economic Integration, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis Berkeley: University of California.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Bell, L. (2010). Looking Back on NAFTA’s Promises and Realities from a Local Perspective. The State of Coahuila, Mexico. In: Lindert, P., Verkoren, O. (eds) Decentralized Development in Latin America. GeoJournal Library, vol 97. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3739-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3739-8_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3738-1
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3739-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)