Khosrow Fatemi, ed. The Maquiladora Industry: Economic Solution or Problem? (New York: Praeger, 1990) 262 pp. Leslie Sklair. Assembling for Development: The Maquiladora Industry in Mexico and the United States. (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989) 256 pp
Abstract
Maquiladoras: Success Story for the Labor Force?Khosrow Fatemi, ed. The Maquiladora Industry: Economic Solution or Problem? (New York: Praeger, 1990) 262 pp. Leslie Sklair. Assembling for Development: The Maquiladora Industry in Mexico and the United States. (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989) 256 pp SAGE Publications, Inc.1995DOI: 10.1177/0094582X9502200111 Tamar Diana Wilson The costs and benefits of the maquiladora industry for the economies of Mexico and the United States have been under dispute since shortly after the inception of the Border Industrialization Program (BIP) in 1965. Many of these disputes center on the effects on employment creation in Mexico and in the United States and on the conditions of work for the Mexican labor force employed by the maquiladoras. Both books reviewed address these issues, among others. Using substantive data collected from five pairs of U.S.-Mexico border cities, Leslie Sklair's Assembling for Development discusses six dimensions along which the success of export zones for Mexican economic development can be evaluated. These are: backward and forward linkages to Mexican domestic industry; retention of foreign exchange in Mexico; upgrading of workers' skills; genuine technology transfer; conditions of labor (compared to conditions throughout the rest of Mexico); and the distribution of costs and benefits