This document summarizes a study that empirically assesses whether integration into global commodity chains leads to industrial upgrading in the denim apparel industry of Torreon, Mexico. The study develops models to measure the impact of firms moving from assembly to original equipment manufacturing on value added. The models find no correlation between this movement and increases in value added. Instead, gains in value added are correlated with declining fabric prices and gains in labor productivity, but productivity gains are not associated with technical knowledge transfer from foreign buyers.

1. An Empirical Assessment of Technology Transfer Emerging from Integration into Buyer-Driven Commodity Chains in the Global Apparel Industry By Jonathan A. Fink & Shahdad Naghshpour University of Southern Mississippi

12. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel Major Shippers Report. Online at www.otexa.ita.doc.gov .

13. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel Major Shippers Report. Online at www.otexa.ita.doc.gov .

20. How Can there be Upgrading Amidst Price Stagnation? Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) Database. Per unit prices converted to Mexican Pesos based on the ILO Laborsta CPI-Mexico Database. (see appendix four)

21. Are Labor Productivity Gains in Coahuila Correlated to Learning from Foreign Buyers? Are other variables the causal agents for productivity gains ? Source: INEGI. La Industria Textil y Del Vestido en Mexico: Serie de Estadisticas Sectorales. Editiones 1998 and 2005