Maquiladoras and informality: A mixed blessing

Arbeitspapier

Mexico experienced a tremendous expansion of its export-processing maquila sector during the 1990s. At the same time, a large proportion of its labor force remains employed in the informal sector. Since one of the main objectives of the maquiladora program was to increase formal employment, we study how the rapid increase in maquiladora activity has affected labor market outcomes in Mexico. We develop a heterogeneous firm model with imperfect labor markets that captures salient features of the Mexican economy such as the differences between maquila and non-maquila manufacturing plants and the existence of an informal sector. We calibrate the model's parameters to match key cross-sectional moments characterizing the Mexican economy. Our quantitative model indicates that the expansion of the maquila sector during the 1990s produced an increase in informality of 0.9% and a reduction in the skill premium and overall welfare of 2.7% and 3.7%, respectively. A counterfactual experiment in which we shut down the informal sector completely results in a reduction of Mexican welfare of 33.5% relative to the equilibrium with an informal sector.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 3689

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation ; Empirical Studies of Trade ; Trade and Labor Market Interactions ; Multinational Firms; International Business ; Development Planning and Policy: Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
• Thema: offshoring ; informal sector ; maquiladoras ; trade and labor markets ; Mexico ; Offshoring ; Lohnfertigung ; Informeller Sektor ; Beschäftigungseffekt ; Wohlfahrtseffekt ; Mexiko

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Heid, Benedikt ; Larch, Mario ; Riaño, Alejandro
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (wo): Munich
• (wann): 2011

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/55354
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ