Centripetal forces in aerospace clusters in Mexico

High technology companies tend to cluster around knowledge-producing organizations. Aerospace follows this pattern, and there are well known examples of aerospace clusters located around large prime contracting aerospace producers. A recent trend that is taking momentum is the setup of manufacturing facilities by leading aerospace companies in Mexico. The objective of this study is to investigate the attracting factors of Mexican clusters and to examine some of the country policy measures to incentive the aerospace sector. A survey applied to selected aerospace firms in Mexico and interviews with regional governments are the information source. Agglomeration forces in Mexican aerospace clusters are strongly related with manufacturing advantages. In addition, policy measures seem insufficient to encourage firms to undertake more complex activities.