Innovation and foreign technology in Mexico's industrial development

Abstract

The paper deals with the innovation system and technology flows in Mexican industry. The first part begins with a conceptual introduction to the NIS as the relation between institutions, competences and performance in the context of industrial clusters. The second part introduces and contextualizes the particular NIS and technology flows in Mexican industry. This involves defining the main Mexican industrial and technology clusters, the Importance of foreign firms and foreign technology. A third section treats in more detail the measure of competences in the Mexican NIS, estimating knowledge flows, the extent of collaborations and the resulting diffusion of technological capabilities. The final section estimates the results of recent performance, both economically and technologically. A few conclusions are added at the end.