Mexico

This report's main messages are that the knowledge revolution offers unprecedented challenges and opportunities for Mexico and to take advantage of new knowledge-based... Show More + opportunities, Mexico must take concerted action now. The stakes are high. The NAFTA agenda needs to be deepened (Chapter 1 and 2). Mexico should create institutional capabilities through innovation and enterprise upgrading, improving education and skills, and updating its infrastructure for information and communications technology (Chapters 3-5). Momentum for change must come from the bottom up and from the top down. A pragmatic way to move forward is to increase top decision-makers' awareness of the need for consensus concerning how to overcome key national obstacles. Mexico then can move ahead with concrete and manageable bottom-up approaches that promote national vision and leadership and build on past successes (Chapter 6). Concerted action among stakeholders is vital for progress. States and champions in the private sector are important agents of the transition to knowledge-based competitiveness. The heterogeneity of agents can be an advantage. Alliances among dynamic agents at the regional level are the key to creating and benefiting from new opportunities (Chapter 7). Show Less -

The report examines two components of new technology adoption by Mexican manufacturing firms. First, it questions which firms, under what circumstances, and performance... Show More + adopt such technology. To measure performance, productivity wages, and net employment of a firm were used, leading to further questions on whether technological change helps workers - of a certain skill level - disproportionately. Second, it argues that adoption of new technologies happens under the right circumstances, and further reviews which are the firms, and circumstances surrounding the choice of technology. The analysis is based on data from the National Survey of Employment, Wages, Technology and Training (ENESTYC), and the National Industrial Survey (EIA) for 1992, 1995, and 1999. Results largely suggest that performance (including statistics, and measures on job creation, and/or job dislocation), is superior with technology adoption, though it does not imply performance increases in all firms. Rather, the effects of technology vary depending on location, and size of enterprise. Nonetheless, investments in human capital - training in conjunction with technology adoption - increases productivity benefits. In addition, the likelihood for new technologies, also varies markedly by time period, and, the complexity of the technology correlates both with the size, and skill levels of a firm's work force. Policy recommendations include widespread technology know-how, facilitating inter-firm linkages, supported by both government financing to encourage a competitive business environment, and by a continued increase in research and development funding, public as well as private funding. Show Less -

The Isthmic region of Mexico has considerable agricultural potential; abundant petroleum and other mineral wealth; an unequaled supply of water for agriculture, industry,... Show More + and hydropower generation; and, to a lesser extent, forestry and fisheries resources. However, development in the region has been minimal and few of the benefits have been enjoyed within the region. Some of the problems in agriculture have been that extensive land areas are flooded for at least part of the year, expertise in agriculture for the humid tropics is lacking, an absence of entrepreneurial initiative, and a scarcity of local capital for investment. Urban-industrial growth has been characterized by enclave development, thereby limiting development of petroleum resources. Efforts must be made to design policies to modify the dependent, enclave nature of the economy. The paucity of human resources is a major constraint, and the challenge of integrated urban-rural development is severe. Nevertheless, overcoming the constraints and developing the resources of the region is important to drawing the population concentration away from Mexico City and dispersing the costs and benefits of the country. Show Less -

The Isthmic region of Mexico has considerable agricultural potential; abundant petroleum and other mineral wealth; an unequaled supply of water for agriculture, industry,... Show More + and hydropower generation; and, to a lesser extent, forestry and fisheries resources. However, development in the region has been minimal and few of the benefits have been enjoyed within the region. Some of the problems in agriculture have been that extensive land areas are flooded for at least part of the year, expertise in agriculture for the humid tropics is lacking, an absence of entrepreneurial initiative, and a scarcity of local capital for investment. Urban-industrial growth has been characterized by enclave development, thereby limiting development of petroleum resources. Efforts must be made to design policies to modify the dependent, enclave nature of the economy. The paucity of human resources is a major constraint, and the challenge of integrated urban-rural development is severe. Nevertheless, overcoming the constraints and developing the resources of the region is important to drawing the population concentration away from Mexico City and dispersing the costs and benefits of the country. Show Less -

The Mexican government feels that progress towards its objectives of improving the balance of payments, the general fiscal or budgetary position, and the rural economic... Show More + and social conditions depends to some extent on a major effort in the transport sector. The current situation is one of uncoordinated public investment without policy objectives, leaving the sector open to misallocations that might affect the whole economy. Therefore, three major issues must be addressed: (i) efficiency of operations; (ii) economically sound and well-timed investments; and (iii) pricing and tariff policies which improve allocation of resources and recognize the need to generate funds for the further development of the sector in the face of the short-run difficulties of increasing public saving by improvements in the tax system. The major obstacles relate to defining in redirecting transport policy and to appointing the right men to carry it out. This report reviews and makes recommendation for railways and highways, ports and pipelines, avaiation and urban transport. Show Less -

This report contains an appraisal of the electric power projects in Mexico. The report is divided into four parts -- Part I: Electric Power in Mexico - General Information;... Show More + Part II: Development Projects of Federal Electricity Commission and Mexican Light and Power Company; Part III: The Financial Situation of the Federal Electricity Commission and of the Nacional Financiera; and Part IV: The Financial Situation of the Mexican Light and Power Company and Reorganization Proposals. Show Less -