ABSTRACT

Ever since the 1940s when Mexican industry was recognized as the ‘engine’ for economic growth, manufacturing sectors have been growing under a regime of intensive protection; meanwhile, its orientation maintained a strong inward bias, at least until the 1982 financial crisis. In contrast, the more recent period has seen a major shift of regime, involving both the macroeconomic setting and the set of incentives facing the economic actors. From the beginning of this liberalization period, industry has experienced a profound structural transformation, one of the major consequences being a steady process of internationalization based on a previously untested external performance.