Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States Trade Openness, Infrastructure, and the Wellbeing of Mexico's South Author(s): Marcela González Rivas Source: Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 2011), pp. 407-429 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/msem.2011.27.2.407 . Accessed: 26/08/2011 13:30 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. University of California Press, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos. http://www.jstor.org Trade Openness, Infrastructure, and the Wellbeing of Mexico’s South Marcela González Rivas* Cornell University This paper examines the effects of Mexican infrastructure and trade policy from 1940 to 2000 on the relative economic performance of its southern states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. Building on the literature of economic geog - raphy, I develop an argument based on the importance of infrastructure in eco - nomic development, and discuss how the legacy of infrastructure policies that have excluded the south can explain both the south’s overall performance and its particularly poor performance in the period of trade openness.