Diferencias en la calidad de las exportaciones manufactureras de México y Corea por niveles tecnológicos

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate comparatively the quality of exports from Mexico and South Korea. The indicators used are the following: domestic value-added (VA) embodied in exports; decomposition of domestic value-added between direct, generated indirectly exporting activities, and indirect, created in those that produce inputs that are embodied in exports; use of domestic VA embodied in exports by the rest of the world, divided between the parts to produce exports and for uses other than exports; domestic employment contained in exports, both for directly and indirectly exporting activities; labor productivity in the export sector in direct and indirect exporting activities; and wages per worker in the export sector, also classified between those that export directly and those that supply inputs to exporting activities. All indicators are broken down by technological level of exports according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) classification (2011). The data analysis allows us to conclude that, despite the high weight of manufacturing exports, particularly those of high and medium-high technology, in total exports of Korea and Mexico, the quality of these exports of the former is much higher than those of the latter: domestic VA contained in their exports (as a percentage of exports) is notably higher; they are more integrated into the global value networks of parts and components; domestic linkages, measured by the indirect jobs they generate, are more intense; and labor productivity and, consequently, wages per employee in export activity are three times higher than in Mexico.