An Analytical Framework for the Study of Urban Employment Conditions on Mexico's Northern Frontier

Abstract

During the past years we have witnessed an ongoing process of reorganization linked to major changes in the operating mechanisms of labor markets as well as in the regulation of economies within the capitalist world system. Mexico has not been isolated from this process, particularly due to its aim to attract domestic and foreign investment capital. The opening of the economy to productive foreign investment has had its major effects on the cities of the mexican northern border, where more than two hundred thousand people (mainly youths and women) have become protected wage workers of manufacturing companies. The importance of studying labor markets and employment in this region is twofold. On the one hand, labor has changed due to the increasing incorporation of thousands of workers to export-led economic activities in the periphery of the capitalist system. On the other, employment conditions evolving from a new international division of labor, coexist with traditional employment forms of Latin American economies, such as self- employment. This article introduces an analytical framework for the study of employment conditions in Mexican border cities. It was designed as a conceptual guide for a comprehensive empirical research on the nature of urban employment in this region. As a conclusion, the article illustrates the utility of this analytical proposal for grasping and understanding important differences in labor characteristics, such as workers' education, type of occupation, and income.