No abstract

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) location theories highlight the regional factors that influence the location and spatial distribution of the investment project. The study employs a state-level spatial panel econometric model to empirically contrast the main location factors that influence the spatial distribution of Japanese companies. The main results indicate that state characteristics related to the presence of infrastructure, lower wages, agglomeration, and development of the automotive industry influence the presence of Japanese automotive firms in Mexico. The results also highlight the presence of negative spatial externalities for the wages, population, industry agglomeration, and education variables. This shows that neighboring states compete for the arrival of Japanese automotive firms and spatial effects are present. Positive spatial externalities were observed from the market size variable, which can reflect the presence of production networks in the automotive industry, especially for the case of Japanese firms.

The arrival of Japanese investment in the Mexican automotive industry has caused an increase in the economic dynamism of the Bajio region, especially since the entry into force of the Mexico-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in 2005. Previous research has been conducted from different perspectives explaining the spatial distribution and agglomeration of Japanese enterprises in host countries; however, studies that employ measurements of spatial clustering for Japanese firms are still scarce. For the present research, a unique spatial georeferenced database of Japanese automotive suppliers was created to identify the clustering patterns of firms. The results suggest that Japanese automotive supplier firms in Mexico favor spatial proximity. The use of spatial measurements of concentration provides evidence to further understand the presence of agglomeration of Japanese firms in the automotive industry.

Evaluation has an important role in society, because it provides affirmations of value, merit, progress, accreditation, responsibility, and when necessary, has the power to finish social programs that do not work, or, on the contrary, expand programs that do. Although the practice of evaluation is old, it is considered that the discipline is in a young stage, as the first efforts to formally develop evaluation theory go back to the decade of the 40s. In Latin America, the institutionalization of evaluation took place at the end of the 20th century, although the process accelerated during the first years of the 21st century. The growing interest was a result of the need to evaluate the social programs that had been instated with the purpose of alleviating the consequences of the economic crisis that the Latin American countries were going through. This gradual process of progress in social programs in Mexico has given rise to the creation of institutions responsible for formalizing the evaluation processes in the country. Despite the above, the desired maturity in terms of evaluation has not been achieved. The purpose of this document is to review the challenges of the current evaluation system in Mexico.