0000000000048602
AUTHOR
Alfonso Díez-minguela
Spain and Its Neighbours: An International Comparison
This chapter analyses whether the evolution of regional inequality in Spain—in terms of the levels reached and characterization of the major stages involved in its growth or reduction—matches that seen in most of the south-western European economic area. To this end new evidence on the historical evolution of territorial inequality in a significant area of Europe comprising all regions of Portugal, Spain, France and Italy is provided. From the analysis performed it can be gathered that the main patterns observed in the evolution of inequality throughout the economic development process in Spain accurately reflect what happened in all four states as a whole.
Regional income inequality in France 1860–1954: Methods and findings
This paper explores regional (departement or NUTS3) income inequality in France between 1860 and 1954. To this end we first document the existing evidence, evaluate the estimation methods and findi...
Spatial Patterns of Regional Income Inequality Then and Now
In this chapter an important element characteristic of territorial inequality is examined: the presence of geographical patterns, that is, the grouping of neighbouring regions into clusters of wealth or poverty. The descriptive evidence provided by the maps is supplemented with spatial autocorrelation statistics to test for the presence of spatial clustering. The analysis aims to identify when exactly the geographical patterns that characterize regional inequality in Spain today took shape. Then some hypotheses as to the causes are established. Finally, the chapter analyses whether the clusters of poor or rich regions continue uninterrupted beyond national borders to include regions of Port…
The uneven transition towards universal literacy in Spain, 1860–1930
This study provides new evidence on the advance of literacy in Spain during the period 1860–1930. A novel dataset, built with historical information from the Spanish population censuses (over 8000 ...
Old wine in new wineskins? Understanding the cooperative movement: Catalonia, 1860-1939
Different factors have been proposed to explain why in some regions there is a greater tendency to form cooperatives. The debate remains open. In this study, we look at the spread of cooperativism within Catalonia from 1860 to 1939. Catalonia was not just the leading industrial region in Spain but also where cooperatives first emerged and had a greater presence. In line with the existing evidence, we find that cooperativism spread from coastal municipalities to the hinterland. In particular, it seems that local conditions (literacy and social capital) facilitated this process, while accessibility to the transport network and neighbouring effects also played a significant role. This work was…
Methodology, Sources and New Evidence
This chapter presents the methodology used to construct the new estimates of regional GDP in Spain, breaking down the territory into NUTS3 and NUTS2 regions (provinces and autonomous communities respectively) and dividing sectors homogeneously into five production areas: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and public utilities, construction and services. Taken as a whole in combination with data on regional population, this information provides a picture of regional inequality in per-capita income in Spain over the long term, starting from the early stages of modern economic growth. This new quantitative evidence enables to point out some of the stylized facts observed in the regional distri…
Comparing Different Estimation Methodologies of Regional GDPs in Latin American Countries
This chapter presents a survey of the different methods used to reconstitute long-run income estimations for the Latin American regions. The main purpose is to alert on potential biases derived from them. Although the bottom-up approaches based on the direct estimation of aggregate production, income or expenditure are the preferred option, they have barely been used. The main reason is that all of them are highly data-demanding. Instead, the indirect non-parametric approaches, combined sometimes with direct estimations for agriculture and extractive industries, have been the most recurrent way to estimate output. Out of the nine countries in the sample, seven have followed this “mixed appr…
Do universities matter for the location of foreign R&D?
This article explores the extent to which the regional higher education system (HES) influences the location of foreign research and development (R&D). To do so, we use a dataset with information on the location choices of new foreign R&D establishments within Spain from 2005 to 2013. Similarly, we use a multiple measure of the three university missions, distinguishing between research capacity training, scientific research, and technology transfer. We find that the probability of a foreign R&D establishment being located in a region is positively affected by the strength of the region’s HES missions, and more specifically by the quality of its scientific research, while its re…
Railroad integration and uneven development on the European periphery, 1870-1910
This study explores the relationship between railroad integration and regional development on the European periphery between 1870 and 1910, based on a regional dataset including 291 spatial units. Railroad integration is proxied by railroad density, while per capita GDP is used as an indicator of economic development. The period under study is of particular relevance as it has been associated with the second wave of railroad construction in Europe and also coincides with the industrialization of most of the continent. Overall, we found that railroads had a significant and positive impact on the growth of per capita GDP across Europe. The magnitude of this relationship appears to be relative…
Why did Spanish Regions not Converge before the Civil War? Agglomeration Economies and (Regional) Growth Revisited
In this paper we explore the relationship between the presence of agglomeration economies and regional economic growth in Spain during the period 1870-1930. The study allows us to revisit the existence of a trade-off between economic growth and territorial cohesion, and also to examine whether the existence of agglomeration economies could explain the upswing in regional income inequality during the early stages of development. In doing so, we present alternative indicators for agglomeration economies and estimate conditional growth regressions at province (NUTS3) level. In line with new economic geography models, agglomeration economies in a context of market integration widened regional i…
The long‐term relationship between economic development and regional inequality: South‐West Europe, 1860–2010
This paper analyses the long‐term relationship between regional inequality and economic development. Our data set includes information on national and regional per capita GDP for four countries: France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, compiled on a decadal basis for the period 1860–2010. Using parametric and semiparametric regressions, our results confirm the rise and fall of regional inequalities over time although in recent decades they are on the rise again. Finally, we identify structural change as being a significant transmission mechanism of the inverted‐U relationship. The arrival of technological shocks, beginning during the onset of industrialization, and the transition from agrarian to…
Regional inequality and economic development in Spain, 1860–2010
Abstract Fifty years ago Jeffrey G. Williamson suggested that during the process of economic development regional income differences trace out an inverted U-shaped pattern. Since then several studies have tested this hypothesis. Yet, most of these only explore particular stages of development. This study, however, investigates the long-term evolution of regional income inequality. Using a novel dataset spanning 150 years, we describe per-capita GDP disparities across Spanish provinces (NUTS3) from 1860 to 2010. Moreover, to gain a deeper understanding of regional inequality, we examine other relevant dimensions: modality, mobility and spatial clustering. Overall, the findings confirm the ex…
Regional Income Inequality in Spain 1860–2015
How has regional economic inequality evolved since 1860? Is there a relationship between initial per-capita income and regional growth rates? Is there any relation between the evolution of regional inequality and the economic development process in Spain? In order to answer these questions, a number of different indicators of inequality are offered in this chapter. Then the patterns of convergence or divergence followed by Spanish regions from the mid-nineteenth century to the present are studied. Regional income inequality rose in the early stages of economic development and then declined. However, with high levels of development, around the 1980s, a change of trend is observed. In other w…
Two stories, one fate: age-heaping and literacy in Spain, 1877-1930
This study looks at human capital in Spain during the early stages of modern economic growth. In order to do so, we have assembled a new dataset on ageheaping and literacy in Spain for both men and women between 1877 and 1930 based on six population censuses with information for 49 provinces. Our results show that age-heaping was less prevalent during the second half of the 19th century than previously thought and did not decrease until the early twentieth century. By contrast, literacy increased throughout the whole period. Interestingly, age-heaping and illiteracy rates depict similar spatial patterns which confirm the stark differences in human capital within Spain. Lastly, we raise crit…
Scratching Beneath the Surface: Distribution Dynamics
This chapter explores how regional inequality has evolved in terms of mobility and persistence. Different statistical methods are used to determine whether there has been a general trend whereby the richest regions have maintained their position over time or whether, on the contrary, any relevant changes can be seen in the positions occupied by the various regions in terms of income levels per capita. The results allow identifying stories of relative success or failure among Spanish regions, discover when exactly these changes were most frequent, and then construct hypotheses about the economic and institutional conditions which led to the biggest changes in the map of regional inequality i…
A Potted History: Spain 1860–2015
This chapter aims to supply a synthetic view of the historical process of economic development in Spain broken down into major stages. Rather than examine it from all angles, the text concentrates on changes involving the elements highlighted in economic theory and empirical works, that is, the rate at which the Spanish economy advanced, the evolution of its production structure and sector employment, and the degree of integration of the goods and factor markets and the effects of this in both national and supranational terms. So as to give a stylized view of the process, the analysis is carried out on the basis of four major stages into which we divide the period of study: 1860–1910, 1910–…
What Explains the Long-term Evolution of Regional Income Inequality in Spain?
This chapter analyses the proximate causes of territorial inequality. To do this per-capita income inequality is broken down into elements related to differences in regional labour markets and elements linked to the presence of differences in labour productivity between regions. Then the factors that determine these differences in productivity are examined by carrying out a number of quantitative exercises to see whether or not they are in some way connected to the territories’ different production structures or whether they are due to the different levels of productivity registered by each sector on a regional scale. This set of exercises shows which of the potential explanatory factors wa…
The Origins of Economic Growth and Regional Income Inequality in Latin Europe, 1870–1950
Regional income inequality in Latin Europe (France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal) showed a distinctive pattern between 1870 and 1950. Data about population on a decadal basis and Gross Domestic Product (gdp) for 171 regions (84 French départements, 22 Italian regioni, 18 Portuguese distritos, and 49 Spanish provincias) shows that regional inequality increased from 1870 to 1910 but gradually flattened out thereafter until 1950. Current regional disparities in per-capita income throughout Latin Europe are essentially the result of a long-term evolution that traces back to the origins of modern economic growth. Moreover, this study shows the emergence of the core–periphery pattern that characte…