Mexico's Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy : Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This book is about how Mexico can transform itself into a knowledge based economy by tapping into a number of existing socioeconomic advantages: macroeconomic stability, emerging regional enterprise clusters that combine local talent with a dynamic private sector, geographical proximity to the world's knowledge economy powerhouse-the United States, as well as a rich cultural base that generates a wealth of ideas. Mexico's transition to a knowledge-based economy provides a broad assessment of the country's readiness to join the global knowledge economy, highlighting the importance of education and institutional reform, and of creating an environment that is conducive to innovation. This transformation, however, is not only about shaping the reform agenda from the top down. It also means trial-and-error experimentation to test what works and what doesn't in the Mexican context, and then taking successful bottom-up initiatives to scale. The book takes a dual approach in its analysis and recommendations. It tackles both the strategic long-term agenda, which entails many difficult changes and choices, while also proposing a diversity of pragmatic, short-and medium-term entry points to initiate and promote the transition within the current institutional structure.