ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the technological spillover effects arising from the Mexican and Maghrebian partnerships with the United States and Europe, respectively. Success for initiatives analogous to the maquiladoras would rest on the evolution in the Maghreb of industrial export specialisation and on the results deriving from direct investment strategies of firms in the industrialised countries in this case, the European Union. The implementation of NAFTA is likely to weaken the specific export advantages of the border maquiladoras towards the United States and the likely positive effects of the concentration on this location. Textile production for export is also quite developed in the maquiladora industry, but is on a steady decline in terms of relative significance, unlike in the Maghrebian countries where it is still on the increase. The Mexican experience shows the impact of the transfer of some labour-intensive links of the commodity chains controlled by global firms of industrialised countries on the development of technological capability in developing countries.
