ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses services overall and specific service sectors. It focuses on education, health and social services, non-bank financial services, information and business services, and personal services. The chapter discusses prospective advantages and disadvantages stemming from greater North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)-related openness, although heretofore this openness has been limited by the government. Mexican educational services are predominantly provided by the federal government. The advances in educational services over the past forty years have been remarkable. One of the most important developing areas of Mexican educational services is higher education. A final point on educational services is that they provide a channel for social mobility at a variety of levels. The chapter concludes with two case studies. The Seguros Comercial America case illustrates a traditional company in the Mexican service industry of insurance that is preparing itself for greater foreign competition. The second case of IBM illustrates both services and manufacturing.
