Regional Policy, Economic Growth and Convergence - Lessons from the Spanish Case

Preface

Contents

Contributors

Part I The Spanish Experiences of Regional Policies

Chapter 1 Spain as a Case-Study: Regional Problems and Policies

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Spain, a Country with a long History of Regional Self-Government

1.3 Industrialization and Regional Imbalances

1.4 A Radical Change in Past Approaches: The State of the Autonomous Regions and a Regional Policy Based on the EU Criteria

1.5 Final Note

References

Chapter 2 Regional Economy and Policy in Spain (1960–1975)

2.1 Introduction: Objectives and Approach

2.2 From the Primo de Rivera Dictatorship to the Early Years of the Franco’s Regime

2.3 Regional Economy and Policy in 1960–1975

2.4 Theory and Practise of Development Poles in Spain

2.5 The Role Reserved for Public Companies and other Policies with a Regional Impact in the 1960–1975 Period

2.6 Summary

References

Chapter 3 The Evolution of Spanish Regional Policy, 1977–2008

3.1 An Overview of the Spanish Economy Evolution Between 1977 and 2008

3.2 Spanish Regional Policy Within the European Union (1975–2006)

3.3 Regional Policy in the Current Programming Period (2007–2013): The Difficult Balance of Sharing Fewer Resources Among More Countries

3.4 The Instruments Used in the Spanish Regional Policy

3.5 Some Relevant Results of Regional Policy in Spain

References

Part II

Part II Regional Growth, Structural Changes and Convergence

Chapter 4 Macroeconomic Effects of the European Cohesion Policy in the Spanish Economy

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Methodology

4.3 European Cohesion Policy Towards Spain

4.4 Ex-post 1989–2006 Evaluation

4.5 Ex-ante 2007–2013 Evaluation

4.6 Concluding Remarks

References

Chapter 5 The Spanish Regional Puzzle: Convergence, Divergence and Structural Change

5.1 The Evolution of Regional Disparities in Relative Terms: GDP Per Capita and Productivity

5.2 Regional Divergence in Absolute Terms: GDP, Employment and Population

5.3 Structural Change of the Spanish Economy and Its Regional Impact

5.4 Regional Convergence and Structural Change

5.5 Final Remarks

References

Chapter 6 The Sources of Spanish Regional Growth

6.1 Spain’s Growth

6.2 Labour Productivity in Spanish Regions

6.3 Regional Convergence

6.4 Conclusions

References

Chapter 7 Regional Productivity Convergence and Changes in the Productive Structure

7.1 Introduction: Approach and Research Hypothesis

7.2 Data and Methodological Issues

7.3 Main Results

7.4 Final Remarks

ANNEX: Regional Convergence in Spain: Specialisation Index

References

Chapter 8 Infrastructure Investment, Growth, and Regional Convergence in Spain

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Infrastructure Investment in Spain

8.3 A Model of Growth and Employment

8.4 The Contribution of Infrastructure Investment to Output and Employment Growth

8.5 Infrastructure Investment and the Distribution of Income Across Regions

8.6 Conclusion

Appendix: Detailed Results

References

Chapter 9 Public Capital Effects and Regional Spillover in Spain

9.1 Introduction

9.2 The Effects of Public Capital in the Literature

9.3 Regional Data and Analysis of the main Macroeconomic Figures

9.4 Empirical Methodology and Econometric Estimation

9.5 Results

9.6 Conclusions

References

Chapter 10 Supply and Use of Human Capital in the Spanish Regions

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Human Capital in Spain and Its Regions

10.3 Degree of Use of Human Capital

10.4 Returns to Human Capital

10.5 Conclusions

References

Chapter 11 Inequality and Welfare in Intra-Territorial Income Distribution

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Data and Methodological Decisions

11.3 Inequality in Intra-Territorial Income Distribution

11.4 Convergence in Inequality Levels

11.5 Regional Differences in Social Welfare

11.6 Conclusions

References

Chapter 12 The Competiveness of the Spanish Regions

12.1 What Does Competitiveness Mean?

12.2 Two Approaches to Competitiveness: Prices and Costs Versus Productivity

12.3 Regions and Competitiveness

12.4 Indicators of Regional Competitiveness Based on Results

12.5 Indicators of Competitiveness Based on Causal Factors

12.6 The Spanish Regions and the Labour Market

12.7 Conclusions

References

Chapter 13 Regional Growth and Regional Policies: Lessons from the Spanish Experience

13.1 About the Regional Policies Applied: From Diversity and Variability to a More Clear Ranking of Objectives, Tools and Policies

13.2 The Factors of Regional Growth and of Productivity: Some Lessons to be Drawn from the Spanish Experience

13.3 There is Convergence, but Towards Where? And, How?

13.4 The Investment in Infrastructures, Its Contribution to Convergence and the Spillover Effects

13.5 The Strong Promotion to Human Capital Generation and the Historical Resistance of the Existing Differences

13.6 Is it Possible to Talk of Regional “Competitiveness”? Why is it Important?

13.7 Facing a New Economic Scenario, with Many More Uncertainties than Certainties

References