Resumo

LARA, Blanca; VELASQUEZ, Lorenia  e  RODRIGUEZ, Liz Ileana. Especialización económica en Sonora: Características y retos al inicio del nuevo milenio. Región y sociedad [online]. 2007, vol.19, n.spe, pp.27-49. ISSN 2448-4849.

Sonora's economy faces important challenges in the new millennium. This article analyzes local transformations in three dimensions: a) regional economic specialization and changing patterns in the economic geography of the state, based on municipal specialization indexes; b) the service sector's key variables, highlighting its new dynamics and the importance of professional services; and c) the condition of support infrastructure for industrial activity, using synthetic indexes. One of the main challenges is an in-depth analysis of regional specialization because it is not homogenous; infrastructure is limited in several municipalities and services are offered in a traditional manner, so that, in many cases, specialization is a result of the crisis of primary activities.

Palavras-chave : Sonoran economy; economic growth; local development; regional specialization; producer services; economic infrastructure.