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Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America

Publication ,  Journal Article
Brady, D; Kaya, Y; Gereffi, G
Published in: Work and Occupations
May 1, 2011

The industrialization of developing countries has fundamentally transformed work, employment, and labor for millions. Despite the industrialization of most of the developing world, we present evidence that Latin America has experienced stagnating industrial employment in the past few decades. Benefiting from recently available data on industrial employment as a percentage of total employment from 1980 through 2006, we analyze fixed-effects models for 20 Latin American countries. Specifically, we examine three theoretical explanations: productivity/comparative advantage, institutionalism, and dependency/world-systems. Our analyses demonstrate that the prevailing productivity/comparative advantage explanation has limited value. By contrast, we find supportive evidence for a combination of institutional and dependency/world-systems variables. In particular, the stagnating industrial employment share in Latin American countries has been driven by the negative effects of (in order of magnitude) the Mercosur trade agreement, mineral and ore exports (as a percentage of total exports), the duration of the current political regime, military spending (as a percentage of GDP), and inward foreign direct investment flows (as a percentage of GDP). © The Author(s) 2011.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Work and Occupations

DOI

EISSN

1552-8464

ISSN

0730-8884

Publication Date

May 1, 2011

Volume

38

Issue

2

Start / End Page

179 / 220

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
  • 3505 Human resources and industrial relations
  • 1503 Business and Management
 

Citation

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Brady, D., Kaya, Y., & Gereffi, G. (2011). Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America. Work and Occupations, 38(2), 179–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888410387987
Brady, D., Y. Kaya, and G. Gereffi. “Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America.” Work and Occupations 38, no. 2 (May 1, 2011): 179–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888410387987.
Brady D, Kaya Y, Gereffi G. Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America. Work and Occupations. 2011 May 1;38(2):179–220.
Brady, D., et al. “Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America.” Work and Occupations, vol. 38, no. 2, May 2011, pp. 179–220. Scopus, doi:10.1177/0730888410387987.
Brady D, Kaya Y, Gereffi G. Stagnating industrial employment in Latin America. Work and Occupations. 2011 May 1;38(2):179–220.
Journal cover image

Published In

Work and Occupations

DOI

EISSN

1552-8464

ISSN

0730-8884

Publication Date

May 1, 2011

Volume

38

Issue

2

Start / End Page

179 / 220

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
  • 3505 Human resources and industrial relations
  • 1503 Business and Management