Abstract
This paper uses the concepts of specialisation and urbanisation economies to study the growth of employment in the manufacturing sector in the largest cities of Mexico. We observe a relative decrease in the concentration of industries in the center of the country and a more dynamical increase in the cities of the north of Mexico. We applied three econometric models to estimate the effect of specialisation and urbanisation economies in the main urban areas of Mexico. The results reveal that specialisation economies have had a positive effect in the employment growth. In the areas where manufacturing is more important (Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara) the size of the labour market was a very important factor. Whereas in the case of urbanisation economies, they had a positive but not conclusive effect in the employment growth.
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