The Effects of the Crisis of 1994/95 on the Mexican Labour Market: The Case of the City of Puebla

Abstract

In 1994/95, the economic crisis in Mexico strongly affected not only the Mexican economy but also the everyday lives of the Mexican population. The weaker sectors of the economy and the poorer segments of the Mexican population were particularly affected. This paper attempts to link these global trends to a specific location: Mexico's fourth-largest city, Puebla. In order better to understand the relationship between international developments, like a financial crisis, and local issues, like employment and the household economy, relevant aspects of the political and social spheres must be considered. This relationship will be discussed on a theoretical basis employing regulation theory. The paper proposes that regulation is not only important at the macro level (government, parties and trade unions), but also at the micro level (households). Puebla serves as an example useful for portraying the conditions of human labour and the strategies of survival of people as 'micro regulation' in a Mexican urban environment. The households suffered greatly during the economic crisis in Mexico because the major actors in the government and the administration did not support the people very effectively.