Competitividad y especialización de la economía de Guanajuato: Un acercamiento municipal, 1993-2003

The competitiveness of the state of Guanajuato is linked to very few activities under the leading influence of very few municipalities. The sensibility of these locations to economic growth is also highly dependent on the performance of the very few activities: shoes, autos, oil, processed foods and chemicals are extremely important to their respective city. Other places rest to a higher degree on a more stable demand condition of non tradeables in services and trade, naturally less exposed to competition. The obvious policy implication may be to reinforce the specialization of each location according to revealed competitive advantages individually. Of course, the source of competitiveness may vary between activities and between locations; some enjoy firms' assigned competitiveness while others are more conventional cases of competitiveness based on productivity. Each type demand different policy approaches. The search of competitive clusters on the basis of revealed specializations at the regional level, may lead to recognize the relevance of space beyond the limits of political demarcation, i.e. beyond the state of Guanajuato as such. Many potential linkages may only surge when these neighboring advantages are fully recognized.