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Productivity Effects on Mexican Manufacturing Employment before and after NAFTA

Author

Listed:
  • Andre Varella Mollick
  • Rene Cabral Torres

Abstract

A vast literature employs vector autoregressions (VAR) methods in order to capture whether innovations in productivity lead to increases or decreases in employment for U.S. manufacturing. Studying 25 Mexican manufacturing industries with annual data from 1984 to 2000, we examine labour productivity (value added per employee) and total factor productivity (TFP) effects on Mexican manufacturing employment. We find that productivity measures vary considerably in Mexico. Making use of panel data methods that control for sector specific effects, the business cycle and real wages, interesting results emerge. First, there are strong positive impacts of TFP (without and with human capital) on manufacturing employment, as well as ambiguous effects of labour productivity on employment. Second, the capital stock effect on employment varies across periods, yielding a positive impact for post-NAFTA and for the overall period. We interpret the latter as evidence that the increase in FDI inflows in the post-NAFTA period has made capital a stronger complement to labour more recently.

Suggested Citation

  • Andre Varella Mollick & Rene Cabral Torres, 2007. "Productivity Effects on Mexican Manufacturing Employment before and after NAFTA," CID Working Papers 152, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
  • Handle: RePEc:cid:wpfacu:152
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Krzysztof Bartosik, 2010. "Wpływ wydajności pracy na zatrudnienie w polskim przemyśle przetwórczym," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 7-8, pages 1-19.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; Labour Productivity; Mexico; Total Factor Productivity; Panel Data Methods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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