The Urban Labor Market in Mexico

Global Change, Informality, and Social Polarization

Bibliographic Data

ID11670358
AuthorsAdrian G Aguilar (0000-0003-0376-2492, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume18
Issue2
Pages106-134
Publication date1997-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0272-3638 • E-ISSN: 1938-2847
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2747/0272-3638.18.2.106
OpenAlexW1987735651
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited18

In this study I argue that Mexico's integration into the global economy has increased the dependent nature of its capitalist development and has resulted in the weakening of organized labor and growth of the informal sector. Neoliberal policies in Mexico have accentuated the disparities between the formal and informal sectors and between highly paid skilled workers and those working in unskilled and poorly paid occupations. New forms of geographic dispersion and agglomeration of economic activities contribute to the reproduction of differentiated labor markets in various regions and cities. This is particularly true in those areas most affected by the global economy, such as the major metropolitan areas and the northern regions of the country. The main changes in the urban labor market associated with economic restructuring in Mexico during the 1980s are analyzed. The paper makes three main points: (1) the ability of the formal sector and especially industry to absorb labor has declined, and there is a clear trend toward a tertiarization of the economy; (2) the informal sector has experienced rapid growth, particularly in small firms and other less productive economic activities; and (3) the occupational structure displays more marginal employment and signs of polarization between the proportions of jobs with the highest and lowest levels of skill

Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic restructuring · Economics · Economies of agglomeration · Geography · Informal sector · Labour economics · Metropolitan area · Polarization (electrochemistry · Restructuring · Economic Theory and Policy · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Taxation and Compliance Studies

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