Resumen
This paper analyzes the impact of automotive industry on employment generation in the State of Aguascalientes, since exporting is considered a more relevant economic activity than manufacturing. In the last decades, international trade has been articulated by the so called Global Value Chains (CGV), a concept which refers to the international division of tasks that respond to the geographical fragmentation of productive processes to reduce costs by taking advantage of open trade policies. Regarding the case of automotive industry, it falls into final goods assembly line category with a low added value in the region of North America. The employment multiplier of the export automotive sector was calculated against the rest of the non-exporting local economy, using the Export Base Method and the 2003, 2008 and 2013 Aguascalientes census information. The results indicate a significant impact of automotive exports on the non-exporting sectors, since the multipliers were 41.4, 13.9 and 19.1 in three respective censuses, reflecting the number of jobs generated in the economy of the state of Aguascalientes, per each additional worker in the export sector. The importance of public policies aimed at promoting exports and attracting investment in the state were also considered.