James J. Biles

Informal Work and Livelihoods in Mexico: Getting By or Getting Ahead?∗

The widespread adoption of neoliberal reforms during the past quarter century has had profound implications for the livelihoods of those who live and work in cities throughout Latin America. This case study of Mérida, Mexico, builds directly on recent research about the changing nature of work and the role of informality as a livelihood strategy in Latin America and attempts to explain how place-specific patterns of informal work emerge from neoliberal reforms and concomitant urban economic restructuring. Drawing on field research and a large household survey, this article reveals that general patterns of informality coincide with previous findings from Latin America: high levels of informal work; increased heterogeneity of informality; and significant mobility, with a large share of workers “opting out” of the formal sector voluntarily. However, compared with previous research in Mexico, this study shows that informal work is significantly more pervasive, particularly among women; less likely to be voluntary; and pays considerably less. In light of gender considerations and significant discrepancies between local patterns of informality and national trends, this case study casts doubt on recent World Bank encyclicals affirming the resemblance between self-employment in Mexico and microentrepreneurship in more developed countries. Moreover, the article concludes that World Bank literature conveniently overlooks the gendered nature of informal work in Latin America and the profound divergence between the express purposes of neoliberalism and its actual implications. As a result, World Bank research on informality serves to justify the neoliberal model, rather than improve the livelihoods of those who live and work in cities throughout Latin America.

Globalization of Food Retailing and Transformation of Supply Networks: Consequences for Small-scale Agricultural Producers in Southeastern Mexico

The previous decade has witnessed an unprecedented expansion and consolidation of supermarket chains on a global scale. Notwithstanding a wealth of recent research on the global expansion of multinational food retailers, the existing literature largely overlooks the transformation of supply networks and resulting impacts on firms, workers and regions in host countries, where international supermarket chains procure the vast majority of food products for local markets. In addition, the bulk of previous research has been carried out in developed nations, ignoring one of the most striking trends of the past decade – the rapid and unfettered expansion of international retailers in developing countries, especially Asia and Latin America. This paper provides an assessment of the impacts of the globalization of retailing on supply-network linkages between food retailers, intermediaries and small-scale agricultural producers in Yucatán, Mexico. In the context of a global production networks (GPN) framework, this case study reveals that the transformation of supply networks, and concomitant implications for small-scale producers, is mediated by locally contingent relationships among national and international food retailers, intermediaries, state government officials, and agricultural and livestock producers, as well as global economic processes. Durante la última década hemos sido testigos a la expansión y consolidación de cadenas de supermercados a una escala global. No obstante los numerosos estudios recientes enfocados en la expansión global de las tiendas de autoservicio, ha pasado casi desapercibido la transformación de las redes de distribución y las consecuencias para las empresas, trabajadores, y regiones en países receptores, donde los supermercados multinacionales surten la gran mayoría de sus productos para los mercados locales. Además, se ha realizado la gran mayoría de los trabajos de investigación anteriores en países desarrollados, sin tomar en cuenta una de las tendencias más sobresalientes de la última década – la proliferación desbordada de las cadenas multinacionales en países en vías de desarrollo, especialmente Asia y América Latina. En este trabajo se analizan los impactos de la globalización entre las tiendas de autoservicio, los intermediarios y los pequeños productores agropecuarios en Yucatán, México. En el contexto del marco conceptual GPN (redes de producción globales), este estudio de caso revela que la transformación de las redes de producción, y las consecuencias para los pequeños productores, surge tanto de las relaciones locales entre las cadenas de autoservicio, los intermediarios, funcionarios del gobierno estatal, y los productores mismos, como de los procesos económicos globales.

Export-oriented Industrialization and Regional Development: A Case Study of Maquiladora Production in Yucatán, Mexico

Biles J. J. (2004) Export-oriented industrialization and regional development: a case study of maquiladora production in Yucatán, Mexico, Reg. Studies 38, 519–534. This study provides a critical appraisal of export-oriented industrialization (EOI), in the guise of maquiladora production, as a regional development strategy in the case of Yucatán, Mexico. Maquiladoras are export-oriented assembly plants characterized by the labour-intensive manufacture of imported components. Traditionally, these firms have located along the US–Mexico border. However, during the past decade maquiladora production has spread to other regions of Mexico. Perhaps the most dramatic shift in maquiladora location has been experienced by the state of Yucatán where export-oriented firms now account for one-third of all manufacturing jobs and more than two-thirds of all exports. Interregional input–output analysis reveals that maquiladora production has had a positive impact on economic growth and distribution of income in both urban and rural regions of the state. However, since the EOI strategy has failed to promote significant structural change in regional economies, long-term sustainable economic development in Yucatán is unlikely.

Globalization, Geography, and the Liberation of Overseas Study.

Abstract Overseas study is an unparalleled method of promoting cross-cultural understanding, an appreciation of difference, and a relational sense of identity. However, U.S. colleges and universities increasingly employ the myth of strong globalization, which purportedly makes the world more uniform, integrated, and interdependent, in order to justify overseas study as a core component of broader internationalization strategies. Notwithstanding the rhetoric of cross-cultural learning, many key players within the enterprise of study abroad fail to recognize the dissonance between the dogma of strong globalization and the practice of overseas study. This article explores the problematic, contradictory discourses of overseas study, and argues that geography is strategically positioned within academia to emerge as a major driving force of a progressive study-abroad initiative.

Geography, Geographers, and Study Abroad

Few transformations of the American educational system have been as rapid and potentially profound as the proliferation of “study-, research-, and service-abroad” programs during the past two decades. From high schools, to community colleges, small liberal arts colleges, and large public and private universities, more students are traveling to more places for more reasons than ever before. During the 2006–2007 academic year, for example, more than 240,000 students at U.S. colleges and universities participated in some form of formal overseas educational experience, representing a 150 percent increase since 1995 (Institute of International Education [IIE] 2008). This recent enthusiasm for study abroad reflects sincere financial and programmatic commitments, not only among the leaders of higher education, but by the students and families who participate in these programs as well. Simply put, the goal is to broaden perspectives, promote international awareness, and better prepare students for the interesting times that are sure to follow. Although the Grand Tour has certainly not disappeared, it now competes for students among a myriad of overseas educational experiences, including international research projects, alternate spring break, thematicallyfocused programs ranging from anthropology to zoology, and traditional language-immersion programs. There are more tailored choices in more places and the duration of programs has also become more fluid, with options spanning several weeks to the traditional year abroad. Indeed, in order to accommodate students and their increasingly busy lives, shorter programs (of eight weeks or less) represent the fastest growing segment of overseas study (55.4% in 2006–2007 versus 40.5% in 1995–1996), while participants in programs covering a full academic year have declined from 12.1 percent to 4.4 percent during the same period (IIE 2008). The “shortening” of the experience not only alters the way these programs and places are perceived, but also how they are presented to students and parents. Furthermore, while the variety of potential destinations has increased significantly, the vast majority of students (45%) still attend programs in just four nations (United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France) (IIE 2008). As the articles in this collection demonstrate, the growing number and diversity of programs ostensibly respond to calls by educators, business leaders, and government policymakers to internationalize the nation’s students and workforce in order to better prepare graduates for the realities of a shrinking and increasingly inter-related world. Similar to support for alternative energy, it is difficult to imagine opposition to the lofty goals espoused by proponents from all quarters of what might be called the wide-world classroom. Still, given the proliferation of study abroad and the potential of overseas educational programs to provide life-altering experiences, it is perhaps reasonable and prudent to consider the implications of these trends and how academic faculty and administrators can improve both the programs offered and the experiences of participating students, partner institutions, and host communities. Given the importance of the topic, there has been considerable research related to internationalization and study abroad, including evaluations carried out by several national and international organizations, including the Institute for International Education, NAFSA: Association of International Educators,1 the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, and others. Unique to this edited issue, however, is a focus on the actual and potential contributions of our discipline of geography. Specifically, we charged participants in this collaborative effort to consider the role of geography, as an academic pursuit, in overseas study and to critically assess and, potentially, reconceptualize the role of the discipline within study abroad and the internationalization of higher education. Reflecting on their personal experiences, contributors to this special issue collectively reveal the unique contributions of geography and geographers to overseas study, including: the inner-workings and transformative potential of multicountry programs (Moline); how to integrate geography into traditional language-oriented programs (Jokisch); the challenges of doing geographic research and training undergraduate and graduate students in an international, multidisciplinary context (Bishop); how contrasting social, political, and economic contexts provide valuable “teaching moments” within overseas educational programs (Kolivras and Scarpaci); the inherent conflicts between the traditional demands of academia and the potential benefits of international service-learning and public scholarship (Taylor); the need for faculty and administrators to assess and mitigate the impacts of international educational activities in host communities (Schroeder et al.); and the dissonance between the dogma of strong globalization, which serves to justify study abroad, and the potential of overseas study to promote crosscultural understanding and an appreciation of difference (Biles and Lindley). From the outset, it should be noted that all contributors to this edited issue have devoted a significant portion of their careers to working with students in a variety of international contexts. Accordingly, they are active and enthusiastic advocates of overseas education efforts on their campuses and beyond. In fact, and perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of participants in this collaborative effort are themselves the “product” of study abroad, having taken

The Interaction of Economic Reforms, Socio-economic Structure and Agriculture in Mexico

National policydecisions in developing countries contribute to the increasing integration of agriculture into national and world economies. The spatial consequences of national policies, however, vary across regions and agricultural systems. Employing and adapting a methodology first proposed by King (1970), this study explores the relationship between national policy, agriculture, and population characteristics at the regional level in Mexico during the presidency of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-94). Statistical analyses corroborate the hypothesis that the impact of policy reforms on the agricultural sector in Mexico is mediated by the characteristics of the population. Results suggest that government credit for agriculture and federal funding of rural development during the Salinas de Gortari administration were mediated by factors associatedwith the level of urbanization. The provision of commercial credit at the regional level, however, does not appear to depend on population characteristics. Disparities in the impact of national policies are attributed to a historical urban bias, the differential ability of more highly urbanized states to attract government funding, manage and implement programs, and the existence of highly profitable, commercial agriculture in more developed states. Copyright 2000 Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky.