| Sumario: | A study was conducted to examine the effect of Mexican work force migration on the Mexican maquiladora labor market. Data were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Information figures on the textile sector, which includes operations in 20 Mexican states, and from a census sample of 105,291 workers. Findings revealed that while the demand functions of skilled and unskilled maquiladora workers slope downward, skilled workers encounter a higher own-price elasticity of demand and a higher cross-price elasticity of demand than that faced by unskilled workers. Findings also revealed that inflows of skilled interstate migrants into the textile market from 1998 to 2001 brought a decrease in wages in several states. Indeed, findings suggested that the large amount of interstate migration has resulted in modest wage reductions, potentially helping to prevent any further movement of maquiladora production to China. Two commentaries on this article are also provided.
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