Relative competitiveness of handicraft retail businesses: analysis by state

Abstract

Craft trade organizations are fundamental in the productive sector, due to the social, economic and cultural impact they generate, it is a priority to strengthen their preservation, growth and competitiveness. The objective is to calculate the relative competitiveness index of handicraft retail businesses in Mexico through quantitative methods in order to identify the differences with respect to the federal entity. The research is quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational, information was collected by compiling data from INEGI Census (2019) considering 32 states. The results show that Jalisco, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo concentrate the highest percentage of businesses. The comparative competitiveness indicator shows that Baja California Sur presents a very high level (3.13%), Jalisco high (3.13%), Nayarit, Nuevo León and Quintana Roo medium (9.38%) and the rest of the states low (84.38%). The Rho Spearman statistical test indicates the existence of a very high and positive correlation between productivity advantage and relative competitiveness, while the relationship between wage advantage and relative competitiveness is high and positive. The main limitation is that the data are from 2019 and the analysis only considers three representative variables.