Transforming The Latin American Automobile Industry

This study looks at union responses to the changes in the Latin American car industry in the last 15 years. It considers the impact of the shift towards export production and regional integration, and the effect of political changes on union reponses.

The contributions in this book provide a unique view of its emergence and growth in a number of different national settings in an area of the Third World where the industry is most advanced.

Analysis of the economic role of multinational enterprises in industrial development in Latin America - reviews economic theories and impact of foreign capital since 1920; includes case studies of the motor vehicle industry and pharmaceutical industry; describes the development of export oriented industries, esp. The clothing industry and electronics industry; explains effects of MNEs on social structure and industrial policy. References, statistical tables.

Case study of the motor vehicle industry in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, illustrating the economics of industrialization in Latin America under monopoly conditions and economic relations of dependence - examines government policies, changes in industrial structure, the impact of foreign investment, trade structure and market competition, mechanisms of industrial concentration, the role of USA multinational enterprise, etc. Diagrams, graphs, references and statistical tables.

This work examines the responses of unions and workers to regional integration and restructuring in the automobile industry in North and Central America. The focus is on the automobile industry in Mexico, which, because of its size and importance, is viewed as a strategic sector of the Mexican economy and was the focal point of talks between the US, Canada and Mexico during negotiations on NAFTA. Focusing on the period from 1980, John P. Tuman examines the changes implemented by firms to promote export production, he explores reasons for the variation in labour responses to restructuring, and he discusses the prospects for cross-border organizing and co-operation among automobile workers in Canada, the US and Mexico.