Disassembled structures: the political economy of Mexico’s leading auto export sector

Abstract

Mexico’s current export-led economy arose from the adoption of a market-driven
model based in conditions of technological disarticulation separating dominant transnational
firms from the national industrial base. This determined that, in contrast to Verdoorn’s
analysis, the crucial manufacturing sector would function not as a motor-force inducing a
process of autonomous national development by accelerating productivity growth and
promoting product and process innovations, but rather would deepen a fragmented process of
production, centered on processing imported components under conditions of declining total
factor productivity. Despite the profound reordering of its economic geography over the past
30 years, this process has failed to produce legitimate markers of “upgrading”.

JEL Classification: E23; F23; F63; L62; N16.