Abstract

CALDERON VILLARREAL, Cuauhtémoc  and  CUEVAS AHUMADA, Víctor M.. Mexico's manufacturing competitiveness in the US market: A short-term analysis. Inv. Econ [online]. 2015, vol.74, n.292, pp.91-114. ISSN 0185-1667.

This paper investigates the impact of some key variables on Mexican manufacturing competitiveness in the US market. To that end, we construct an international competitiveness (IC) index for the manufacturing sector. The responsiveness of such an index to an ample set of variables is evaluated through the use of a stationary var model. The short-term empirical evidence indicates that: 1) real currency depreciation weakens, rather than strengthens, IC; 2) labor productivity has a strong positive effect on IC, and 3) a real interest rate increase reduces IC. These findings reflect three fundamental problems of the Mexican manufacturing sector and thus have important economic policy implications.

Keywords : manufacturing industry; international competitiveness; Mexico; Latin America.