Mexico's national innovation system in the 1990s: overview and sectoral effects

Abstract

The signature of NAFTA to begin in January 1994 has been only the formal culmination of an openning process, which in the Mexican case, had been initiated a decade earlier. The joining of GATT in 1986 was probably the most important measure initiating this phase to open up the Mexican economy in order to raisert it more competitively into the inernational economy. While domestic industry was abruptly exposed to competition from abroad, also technology policy was changed toward a more liberal tone. The response of the innovation and technology transfer system to these changes is still very moderate up to date, as we will show. Funding for science and technology has remained insufficient and highly dependent on public funds, there is a very limited utilization of the public technological infrastructure by private enterpises, and the nurturing of learning between domestic users and producers of technology and other innovative activities is very weak given the limited scope of their relations. This chapter is divided in three sections. Firstly we offer an update overview of gross S&T efforts showing how limited they are and the extent of reliance on public funds. The second section introduces some qualitative estimates of the weakness of the system, stressing in particular the very weak technological linkages impinging upon the learning potential of the country. A final section produces detailed evidence on the type of adjusment experienced in some of the leading industries along the restructuring and opning period. For a few industries the response seems positive, but for most of the nationally controlled sectors the result has been a downgrading technological adjustment. The overall result of changes due to the modernization agenda seem far les promising than anyone anticipated.