Dilmus D. James

Generating and sustaining backward linkages between maquiladoras and local suppliers in Northern Mexico

Abstract Despite 25 years of growth, Mexicos in-bond assembly, or maquila , operations use very little material inputs that are made in Mexico. Mexican content is less than 2% of value added and those coming from the northern border region are even more miniscule. Some of the reasons for the paucity of local sourcing are reviewed with particular emphasis on corporate and plant purchasing arrangements. Mexican policies designed to support national suppliers are reviewed and the authors offer suggestions that stress the need for a regional focus that concentrates on fostering local technological capacities. The study relies in part on surveys of plant managers and corporate purchasing officers.

Cometh the NAFTA, Whither the Maquiladora? Reflections on the Future of Industrialization in Northern Mexico

The objective of this article is to explore what impacts NAFTA might have on Mexican maquila operations. Our main focus is on the fate of the maquiladoras located in a narrow strip along Mexicos northern border which account for approximately eighty percent of the total. Our concerns about the future development of the United States-Mexico border region derive partly from the fact that we live there and have no immediate plans to depart, but also due to the regions strategic, geographic, economic and cultural importance. Our observations, couched in a framework of evolutionary change, lead us to more pessimistic prognostications about industrialization in the frontera norte than other projections mentioned below. We conclude that the fundamental shortcoming in the northern border region is the lack of a technological base sufficient to support sustained, dynamic socioeconomic development.

Technology, Institutions, and Public Policy in the Age of Energy Substitution: The Case of Latin America

The eighteen countries of Latin America have their problem of searching for alternative energy sources compounded by their lack of an advanced technological base. The energy histories of several individual countries are summarized briefly. Mexico, the worlds fourth largest producer of petroleum, has drawn up a National Indicative Plan for Science and Technology that will require massive demands of the nations human and material resources. Details of the Indicative Plan are discussed. The Latin American energy crisis is expected to generate inducements to pursue more-timely solutions to the problems which cannot be solved by the workings of archaic institutions. 12 references.

Closing the Technological Gap in Latin America

The 19 oil-importing countries of Latin America were severely affected by the 1973 oil embargo and price increases, which revealed a widening technological gap that has made stability and economic growth difficult for these countries. Unstable price levels and massive inflation have produced unprecedented balance-of-payments deficits. The areas technological gap leaves it unprepared to produce adequate food supplies or to make major resource substitutions. Internal weaknesses are evident in the educational and research biases of South America that have limited the progress of universities and research institutes. New policies are needed to promote viable science and technology by setting priorities and expanding indigenous research programs. Several case studies of indigenous innovation and adaptation are noted to illustrate the potential for closing the technological gap in a peaceful, constructive way. 44 references.

Science, Technology and Innovation: Issues for the Neostructuralist Approach to the Socioeconomic Development in Latin America

That the accumulation of technological capacity is a prerequisite for sustained socioeconomic development, I will take as a given, although the notion is insufficiently appreciated in some quarters.1 There are numerous indications that technology capacity-building in Latin America remains a marginal consideration. In this paper I will claim that, if the role of science, technology and innovation is to move closer to center stage in Latin America, neostructuralists will need to play a major role. Neostructuralists are building on structuralist foundations, while accepting some significant insights from neoclassical economics, a situation which does not bode well — neither school of thought gets acceptable marks for their understanding of the process of technology capacity-building. Yet, I will attempt to demonstrate that several important elements and interests associated with current neostructuralist thought offer convenient bridging mechanisms between their agenda and the fostering of viable and useful scientific, technological and innovative activities. The paper continues in Section I by asserting that, although there are bright spots here and there, the contributions of science and technology to socioeconomic development in Latin America are suboptimal. In Section II the neostructuralists are identified and a case is made that, by default if for no other reason, their contributions are direfully needed for fostering the accumulation of internal technology capacity. Section III discusses several areas of science and technology policy that need to be addressed, most of which should be compatible with current neostructuralist strengths and concerns. A short section concludes the paper with some reflections as to what actions might further the cause of explicitly incorporating science, technology and innovation policy into the broader panorama for fostering socioeconomic progress.