VOLUME II
geographic variation in informality. In Mexico post-NAFTA, this economic polarization occurs between the large exporting firms, maquiladoras, in the Northern region and the more informal, non-traded, smaller firms in the Southern region as a result of northern manufacturing being unable to develop linkages to the rest of the economy (Bacha and Bonelli, 2015). On the other hand, the geographic variations could also reflect internal and external migration patterns. Sheehan (2013), through the evaluation of a sample of 56 Mexican urban communities from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP), determined that migrant-sending locations and destinations often see higher levels of informality. Migrants, especially ones returning from work in other cities, possess on average higher levels of experience and entrepreneurism; nevertheless, individuals in his sample faced barriers to enter the formal sector as firms (Sheehan, 2013). The variation in numbers of returning migrations in response to business cycles allow for further testing of this hypothesis. Finally, through the decomposition of formal/informal wage gap in Colombia, Garcia (2013) delineates marked differences in the structures and dynamics of the local labor markets that arise from the economic and geographic nature of the cities themselves. Though the exact characteristics of the Colombian cities analyzed are not transferrable to Mexico (ie. Barranquilla and Cartagena have large tourism sectors and are export-focused, while BogotĂĄ, Cali, MedellĂn and Bucaramanga feature high population density and dynamic industrial activity), similar analysis could
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