Search

This paper studies individual preferences for place‐based attributes in the context of nature‐based domestic tourism trips. We examine the regional characteristics that explain tourist destination choice focusing on taste heterogeneity for distance and temperature. We examine the influence of a set of mean shifters in the marginal utilities for regional amenities, and how individuals are willing to trade distance in exchange for warmer (cooler) climates (i.e., marginal rates of substitution). Using a rich dataset of trips within Spain for nature‐based purposes, we find large heterogeneity in preferences for temperature differentials and distance, with trip purposes acting as moderators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional shift‐share analysis and its existing spatial versions fail to detect the simple effects related to the underlying spillovers derived from the neighbourhood and regional contexts. This paper presents a formulation of the spatial shift‐share that incorporates novel effects and classifies the regions in a multi‐contextual framework (national, neighbourhood and regional). The use of different benchmarks is valuable since the performance of some regional sectors can be diagnosed with a national focus, while for others, it may be necessary to resort to neighbourhood and regional characteristics. Thus, the technique facilitates the formulation of strategies to improve the regional economic planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By applying a stochastic production frontier approach, this paper investigates regional inefficiencies of job creation in Spain over the period 2006–2012. This paper represents a first attempt to test whether a more flexible labour market as designed by the 2010 reform reduces regional inefficiencies. Results suggest that the 2010 reform appears to have improved on average the efficiency of the Spanish labour market even if regional differences persisted over time. The paper also investigates the importance of local democracy for the labour market finding that local democracy positively influences regional efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between labour force participation and the business cycle is a common topic in economic literature. However, few studies have examined if the cyclical sensitivity of labour force participation is influenced by social effects. In this paper, we construct a theoretical model defining a relatively new hypothesis, the bandwagon worker effect (BWE). We use spatial econometrics techniques to test the existence of the BWE in the local labour markets in Spain. Our results reveal a positive spatial dependence in the cyclical sensitivity of labour force participation that decreases as we fix a laxer neighbourhood criterion, which verifies the existence of the BWE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the link between the employment structure of local labour markets and the schooling choices of the youth in Spain. We construct a panel of Spanish provinces, and the effect of local labour markets was identified by using the variation in the share of employment by industry and gender across provinces and over time. A model with province fixed‐effects and specific‐slopes is used, which makes it possible to control for both time constant and time‐varying unobserved heterogeneity across provinces. A sizable impact is found for both boys and girls of the industry structure of employment on educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to show the development of regional and urban studies in Spain, pointing out the main factors that have influenced such development, the topics analysed by the Spanish researchers and why Spain has today a remarkable position in the field of regional science. Regional problems have always taken up a very important place among the concerns of the Spanish society. This has been closely linked to longstanding historical and internal political conflicts. But, leaving aside some very interesting contributions and territorial projects developed in the past, the research on regional issues emerged really in the 1960s and the consolidation phase took place from 1975 to 2000, as explained in Sections 2 and 3. From the beginning of this century the field has received a clear thrust, supported by a new generation of economists and geographers. The increasing presence of Spanish researchers in international congresses, workshops and specialized journals enable to state that Spain has reached a similar level as in more advanced countries. Section 4 collects the most outstanding topics and innovative contributions made from 2000 to now. A short final note (section 5) points out some final remarks and why a positive continuity of the progress observed can be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to examine the commuting behaviour of self‐employed workers in Spain as well as its relationship with satisfaction with jobs and housing. According to our results although conventional estimations indicate that commuting trips are shorter among the self‐employed, the differences with employees vanish when the potential endogeneity of self‐employment is controlled for. We also show that the job and housing satisfaction levels of the self‐employed are less sensitive to commuting than those of employees, and that in fact no significant effect is observed for relevant segments of the former group, what gives partial support to the theoretical model that we propose where imperfect information problems affect the employees but not the self‐employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effectiveness of Science and Technology Parks (STPs) as instruments of innovation policy has generated thriving debate among academics, practitioners and policy makers. A gap in the existing literature on STPs is that research mostly does not consider STPs' heterogeneity. The present paper aims at filling this gap, analysing the influence of different STP characteristics on their tenants' performance. Using data on 849 firms and 25 STPs from the 2009 Community Innovation Survey for Spain and a survey of STP managers respectively and after controlling for a wide set of firms characteristics, we find that: (i) firms located in very new or longer established STPs show better innovative performance; (ii) the size of the STP and its management company positively affects the innovative performance of tenants while services provision has no effect on firms' achieving better results; and (iii) firms in less technologically developed regions benefit more from location in an STP. Theoretical, policy and managerial contributions of our research are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand‐side multipliers have ruled within multisectorial models as the main indicators for policy effectiveness and key‐sector determination both in linear interindustry analysis and in non‐linear applied general equilibrium models. In this paper we shift the perspective to supply‐side injections by studying the effects of marshalling additional primary factors (K, L) that give rise to a general resource reallocation. We obtain estimates of supply multipliers by numerically approximating the underlying and unobservable general equilibrium Jacobian matrix. These estimates provide complementary information to standard demand multipliers. We illustrate the methodology using an empirical general equilibrium model for the region of Andalusia, Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of job accessibility on job-education mismatch in the metropolitan area of Barcelona with regard to both public and private transport. Transit accessibility is defined in terms of the spatial distribution of employment relative to travel time by public transport, whereas accessibility by private transport is approximated by car availability. The results obtained from a joint model for car ownership, employment selectivity and mismatch confirm that car availability matters for job-education mismatch. Moreover, public transport connectivity to job locations favours the matching between schooling and occupation in the urban labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether regions benefit from their neighbours' transport facilities. We focus on ports and estimate a gravity model of trade that includes port facilities indicators as explanatory variables. The model is estimated by using exports from 19 Spanish regions to 45 countries from 2000 onwards. To test for the existence of regional spillovers, we construct a weight matrix that takes into account the relative importance of the neighbouring ports, as well as the quality of port infrastructure in destination countries. The findings suggest that regional spillovers play a larger role than port facilities themselves in the growth of Spanish exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the local policy that has promoted the formation of a cluster of knowledge-based activities in the city of Barcelona. After decades of economic and industrial stagnation in a district called Poblenou, in the year 2000 the City Council of Barcelona implemented a plan to renew the area's urban and economic structure. Under the development plan, knowledge-based firms were encouraged to set up in the area and thus to create a cluster of advanced activities. This paper examines the success of this local policy and aims to determine whether cluster amenities have played a part in attracting knowledge-based firms. First, we evaluated the cluster implementation via a 'difference-in-differences' analysis, comparing the increase in the percentage of knowledge-based firms in this specific area with the increase of these firms in other local areas. Second, to determine whether the cluster amenities are an important element in attracting knowledge-based activities, we perform a multivariate regression to see if cluster amenities (as valued by firms in a survey) do have an effect on the decision of knowledge-intensive firms to locate in the district. El propósito de este artículo es evaluar la política local que ha favorecido la formación de un conglomerado de actividades basadas en conocimiento en la ciudad de Barcelona. Después de décadas de estancamiento económico e industrial en un distrito llamado Poblenou, el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona implementó en el año 2000 un plan para renovar la estructura urbana y económica de la zona. Siguiendo el plan de desarrollo, se animó a las empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento a que se establecieran en este área, creando con ello un conglomerado de actividades avanzadas. Este artículo examina el éxito de esta política local e intenta determinar si los servicios de conglomerado han jugado un papel a la hora de atraer a empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento. Primero, evaluamos la implementación del conglomerado por medio de un análisis de diferencia en diferencias, al comparar el aumento del porcentaje de empresas de actividades basadas en conocimiento en este área específica con el aumento de estas empresas en otras áreas locales. Segundo, para determinar si las amenidades de conglomerado son un elemento importante a la hora de atraer actividades basadas en conocimiento, realizamos una regresión multivariante para observar si las amenidades de conglomerado (así valoradas por las empresas en una encuesta) afectan a la decisión de las empresas basadas en conocimiento de ubicarse en este distrito. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the role played by internal migration of the foreign-born population in the process of income convergence at provincial level in Spain over the period 1996–2005. First, it examines, using both classical and recent analytical approaches, the provincial income convergence process. Second, the paper gives a succinct description of recent trends in foreign-born internal migration. Third, the influence of these migration flows on provincial income convergence is addressed by estimating several convergence equations. The results of this analysis seem to reject the hypothesis that foreign-born internal migration exerts a strong influence on the income convergence process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to study the influence of related variety on the economic performance of Spanish provinces during the international crisis (2009–2013) and the post‐crisis period (2014–2018), with the goal of contributing to assess the validity of the skill‐relatedness approach. The research is based on labor flows in a sample of more than one million affiliated workers. Our results confirmed the influence of related variety on the growth of GDP and employment in knowledge‐based industries, in protecting against unemployment, as well as on the creation of new firms, although with marked differences according to the economic cycle. Robustness issues and possible lines of progress using this novel methodology are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a spatial vector autoregressive (SpVAR) analysis of growth spillovers for the Spanish regions over the period 1965-2003. First, a spatial Granger causality analysis is performed that indicates the relevant impact of spatial spillover effects across regions in Spain. Second, the empirical research offers a contribution in the context of the SpVAR modelling estimating the push-in (from the neighbours to the region) and push-out (from the region to its neighbours) effects of growth spillovers within a regional economic system. Finally, the proposed methodology reveals empirical evidence about both the short-run and long-term regional growth adjustment processes in space and time. The results for the Spanish regional panel data suggest the existence of strong spatiotemporal regional spillovers of growth output. This has important implications for the choice of regional policy goals and regional policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We suspect that the efficiency of intergovernmental grants is related to the level of fiscal autonomy of the subsidized government. In this paper we construct and estimate a panel data model capturing the role of fiscal federalism on the effectiveness of EU structural actions in enhancing public investment. We use data from the 17 Spanish regions for the period 1993-2007. Results unambiguously support the hypothesis that the effectiveness of the structural funds decreases with larger fiscal autonomy, which could reflect the fact that fiscal decentralization in Spain has been focused to larger taxation autonomy without affecting regional income redistribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses four statistical distributions used to describe city size distributions: lognormal, double Pareto lognormal, q-exponential, and log-logistic. We use un-truncated city size data for the US, Spain and Italy from 1900 until 2010, and, in addition, the last available year for the remaining countries of the OECD. We estimate the four functions by maximum likelihood. To check the goodness of the fit we use the Kolmogorov- Smirnov and Cramér-von Mises tests, and compute the Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion. The results show that the distribution which best fits data in most of the cases (86.76%) is the double Pareto lognormal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban sprawl has recently become a matter of concern throughout Europe, but it is in southern countries where its environmental and economic impact has been most severe. This low-density, spatially expansive urban development pattern can have a highly marked impact on municipal budgets. Thus, local governments may see sprawl as a potential source of finance, in terms of building-associated revenues and increased transfers from upper tiers of government. At the same time, sprawl leads to increased levels of expenditure, as it may raise the provision costs of certain local public goods and requires greater investment in extending basic infrastructure for new urban development. What, therefore, is the net fiscal impact of urban sprawl? Do local governments consider the long-run net fiscal impact of new urban growth or do they simply focus on its short-term benefits, ignoring future development costs? This paper addresses these questions by analysing the dynamic relationship between urban sprawl and local budget variables. To do so, we estimate a panel vector autoregressive model using data for 4,000 Spanish municipalities for the period 1994-2005. Computed generalized impulse response functions show: ( i) that sprawl considerably increases demand for new infrastructure; ( ii) that the capital deficit generated by this new infrastructure is covered in the main by intergovernmental transfers and, to a lesser extent, by revenues linked to the real estate cycle; and ( iii) that sprawl leads to a short-term current surplus, as the increase in current revenues offsets the increase in current expenditures due to public service provision for new developments. Overall, these findings point to a moral hazard problem for local governments in which inordinate intergovernmental transfers and development revenues encourage excessive urban sprawl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to ascertain whether spatial contagion operated in international migration across neighbouring provinces in Spain during the 1998-2009 period. After a general depiction of the international migration distribution in Spain, the study focuses on the role played by space and, particularly, on the possible existence of geographical contagion effects. For this aim, two novel indexes of spatial contagion, based on a spatial Markov chain approach, are proposed. Two main results are drawn from the analysis: first, that spatial clustering exists in the distribution; second, that there are contagion effects, positive contagion among provinces surrounded by high-immigration provinces being the most significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sense of belonging is a crucial factor determining the identification of the firms in industrial districts. From the social capital perspective, this paper analyses how the structural and relational dimensions of social capital determine a firm's sense of belonging to the industrial district. The study analyses a sample of 213 companies belonging to two Spanish industrial districts. Results of the survey offer an important contribution to the specific literature by finding the explanatory factors with which to distinguish between groups according to their level of embeddedness in the district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the differences in the levels of accessibility to public employment offices in the Spanish municipalities. Hence the main purpose is to evaluate the role of the public employment services in local labour markets by considering the physical distance to employment offices and the spatial structure of their catchment areas. First, we propose an accessibility measure and, second, we estimate a spatial model and test whether a higher accessibility to employment offices could contribute to reduce local unemployment rates. The results suggest that policy-makers should strive to improve the accessibility to employment offices so that adequate assistance to find suitable employment may be ensured to every jobseeker. Resumen Este artículo se centra en las diferencias en los niveles de accesibilidad a las oficinas públicas de empleo en los municipios españoles. El objetivo principal es por tanto evaluar el papel de los servicios públicos de empleo en los mercados laborales locales, en función de la distancia física a las oficinas de empleo y la estructura espacial de sus zonas de influencia. Primero, se propone una medida de accesibilidad y, a continuación, se estima un modelo espacial y se comprueba si una mayor accesibilidad a las oficinas de empleo podría contribuir a reducir las tasas de desempleo local. Los resultados sugieren que los responsables de formular políticas deberían esforzarse por mejorar la accesibilidad a las oficinas de empleo, a fin de poder asegurar a cada demandante de empleo la ayuda apropiada para que logre encontrar un empleo adecuado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop an econometric analysis of the intra- and interregional trade flows of the accommodation, restaurant industry, and travel agency sectors in Spain by means of several specifications of the gravity model and three alternative databases containing the monetary flows for 2001 and 2007. The results obtained show the existence of an important border effect in favour of the intraregional trade of tourism, and verify a minor elasticity of the trade flows in some characteristic tourism sectors in relation to distance. Finally, the two main typologies of flows - tourist establishments and second homes - are modelled separately, identifying specific factors for explaining each category. En este artículo desarrollamos un análisis econométrico de los flujos comerciales intra e interregionales de los sectores hotelero, restauración y agencias de viajes en España, mediante varias especificaciones del modelo de gravedad y tres bases de datos alternativas que incluyen los flujos monetarios en 2001 y 2007. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la existencia de un importante efecto frontera favorable al comercio intrarregional de turismo y corroboran una elasticidad menor de los flujos comerciales en ciertos sectores de turismo característicos en relación a la distancia. Finalmente, se modeliza por separado las dos tipologías principales de flujos - establecimientos turísticos y segundas residencias, mediante la identificación de factores específicos para cada categoría. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether related variety, among other types of spatial externalities, affected regional growth in Spain at the NUTS 3 level during the period 1995-2007. We found evidence that related variety matters for growth across regions, especially when using two new methods that measure revealed relatedness between industries. The first method is based on Porter's cluster classification while the second method uses the proximity index proposed by Hidalgo et al. Our analyses show that Spanish provinces with a wide range of related industries tend to show higher economic growth rates, once we control for other determinants of growth. Este artículo investiga si la variedad relacionada, entre otros tipos de externalidades espaciales, afectó el crecimiento regional en España a nivel NUTS 3 durante el periodo 1995-2007. Hallamos pruebas de que la variedad relacionada influye en el crecimiento entre regiones, especialmente al utilizar dos métodos nuevos que miden el grado de conexión manifiesto entre industrias. El primer método está basado en la clasificación de conglomerados de Porter, mientras que el segundo método utiliza el índice de proximidad propuesto por Hidalgo et al. Nuestros análisis muestran que las provincias españolas con un amplio rango de industrias relacionadas tienden a mostrar tasas de crecimiento económico más altas, una vez que se logra controlar otros factores determinantes del crecimiento. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The RAS method extrapolates a single matrix to conform to new row and column totals. This paper proposes a cell-correction of RAS (CRAS) that uses the deviations of multiple RAS projections, to improve the projection of the input-output table (IOT) of a specific country or region. The new method is tested on eleven survey-based IOTs of Spanish regions for 1999-2005. CRAS is shown to outperform RAS when three to four survey IOTs are used that are close to the target IOT. When more IOTs are added, for most but not all regions, CRAS gradually becomes worse than applying RAS to the single best IOT. Resumen El método RAS extrapola una única matriz para que se ajuste a nuevos totales por fila y por columna. Este artículo propone una corrección de celdas de RAS (CRAS) que utiliza las desviaciones de proyecciones RAS múltiples, para mejorar la proyección de tablas input-output (TIO) de una región o país específicos. El nuevo método se prueba en once TIO basadas en muestreos de regiones españolas para el periodo 1999-2005. Se muestra como el método CRAS tiene un mejor desempeño que RAS cuando se utilizan TIO de tres a cuatro muestreos cercanos a la TIO objetivo. Para la mayoría de regiones, aunque no para todas, la aplicación de CRAS se comporta gradualmente peor cuando se añaden más TIO en comparación con la aplicación de RAS a la mejor TIO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the differential impact of human capital, in terms of different levels of schooling, on regional productivity and convergence. The potential existence of geographical spillovers of human capital is also considered by applying spatial panel data techniques. The empirical analysis of Spanish provinces between 1980 and 2007 confirms the positive impact of human capital on regional productivity and convergence, but reveals no evidence of any positive geographical spillovers of human capital. In fact, in some specifications the spatial lag presented by tertiary studies has a negative effect on the variables under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates several issues concerning persistence of inequalities of relative income per capita among the Spanish regions over the period 1980 to 2002. For that purpose we take a Bayesian approach which extends the work by Canova and Marcet. First, we study to what extent there exists a fixed effect bias in the standard cross-section estimates, and we find that the speed of convergence is indeed underestimated. Second, we provide a battery of results whereby steady states and convergence rates are obtained for a continuum of prior distributions. We explain the higher convergence rates of regional incomes to their own steady states on the basis of the high degree of capital mobility among the Spanish regions. Finally, we also deal with persistence of inequalities by determining whether initial conditions matter in the distribution of regional steady states, and our conclusion is that regional disparities tend to persist over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel method for modelling internal migration dynamics using non-stationary causative matrices. Its application to annual migration flows in Spain reveals changes in location preferences of migrants between 1986 and 2003. Our approach also indicates some instability in Spain's migratory system prior to the late 1990s, as opposed to a negligible instability after that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an interregional input output model to estimate the economic impact of the EU structural funds received by the Spanish regions during the period 1995–1999. We attempt to cast further light on the interregional effects that the funds have produced in terms of output, value added and employment, not just in the regions where they were originally allocated, but also in the rest of the regions. This analysis offers additional information than the one attained using macroeconomic models which do not take interregional spillovers into account. The results are relevant regarding the discussion about the effectiveness of EU cohesion policy, and the share of output effects that are captured by the richest regions through their intersectoral linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between collaboration, geography and innovation has been analysed in economic geography. However, little is known from a social‐network perspective about whether different geographical levels of embeddedness may determine the way networks affect innovation. To address this issue, we compare the effects of regional vs. country‐level Spanish networks on future patenting. If we consider the country‐wide network, our statistical analysis reproduces the findings of the previous literature. However, negative effects prevail at the regional level, while the influence seems to be rather positive at the country level. We thus conclude that the embeddedness at different geographical scales exerts differing influence on innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise in unemployment during the economic recession led to widespread support for active labour market policies (ALMP) from public and private institutions. Among these measures, Spain has developed the so‐called discounted flat rate for self‐employed workers, which consists of a series of reductions and subsidies applied to their social security contributions when they start their activity. The aim of this study is to evaluate this policy in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain), a region with an unemployment rate of over 20%, comparing the survival of a group of self‐employed workers who benefited from this subsidy with that of another group without the discounted flat rate. The results suggest the survival of the group with the subsidy surpasses that of the group without, although the positive effects of the measure disappear over the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural experiment provided by the opening of a section that completed the A8 motorway in Mariña de Lugo, a rural area in Galicia (Spain), offers an opportunity to identify whether spread or backwash effects in economic activity are observed. The new section directly affects only a small strip of the territory—where the transition from the inland rural areas to the more dynamic coastal area takes place. This allows us to test a separate dual inner‐coastal socio‐economic performance after the opening of the new road—an analysis that has rarely been performed for rural areas in developed countries. We study the impact over population growth, employment and business financial results, using the differences‐in‐differences approach. The results we obtain are consistent with the spread hypothesis for the nearest municipality to the new road section, while the spread effects did not disseminate to the neighbouring municipalities. These global results hide a different performance at the sector level, positive for transport and manufacturing companies, and negative for retail firms and hospitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the contribution of transport infrastructure to the regional convergence in Spain for the period 1980–2008. Spatial econometric techniques are employed to decompose the direct, indirect and total effects of roads, railways, ports and airports. In addition, the analysis is complemented by estimating the determinants of the regional allocation of transport investments. Evidence confirms the presence of absolute and conditional convergence. However, only roads appear to have an impact on this convergence process. It is also understood that the main driver of transport investments has been the equalization of the infrastructure endowment between the different Spanish regions. The reduction of inequalities between regions in terms of road provision could explain the positive contribution of roads to the process of regional convergence in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the local determinants of destination choices of foreign immigrants to the Madrid metro area using data for 2005 and 2009 from the Spanish annual municipal-level registers of inhabitants. Taking advantage of the equivalence relation between conditional logit and Poisson, we estimate a location-choice model using the Poisson fixed-effects estimator. Origin-destination fixed effects are incorporated to account for the persistent spatial structure of the immigrants' settlement patterns and to control for potential violations of the independence of irrelevant alternatives ( IIA) assumption. The Poisson regression model is estimated for seven different groups of immigrants according to world regions or countries of origin. Our modelling strategy has important empirical implications, with magnitudes and/or signs of the estimated coefficients changing in the expected directions. It is found that newly arriving immigrants tend to settle in low-to-middle-income locations in the suburban reaches of the Madrid metro area. Moreover, the effects of the size of local communities of established immigrants are found to be insignificant and even negative in several instances, reflecting hetero-local settlement preferences and/or the saturation of local networks causing in-group job rivalry, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of regional research has focused on the innovation-competitiveness-growth chain, which is implicit in territorial innovation models ( TIMs). TIMs literature has neglected or subordinated social and ecological regional conditions. This research adopts a broader perspective by: ( i) studying an interscalar intergovernmental network aimed at meeting tridimensional sustainable development ( SD) goals; and ( ii) showing why this arrangement is successful. The network members are the regional government and provincial councils, which act as network promoters, and the municipalities. We model the network as a platform for integrating both pre-existing idiosyncratic resources and emergent resources/benefits that come from rich and regular interactions (in the shape of learning, enjoyment, reputation, identification, and attitude towards citizen participation); resources integration leads to network member satisfaction. This view is supported by data concerning a network in a Spanish autonomous community (region), Castile- La Mancha. We see this study as a first step towards more systematic research on what might be termed 'territorial sustainability models'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of optimal population densities underlies the economic rationality when planning the provision of basic public infrastructure by local governments. Using econometric techniques based on the translog cost function, we investigate the existence of economies of scale, associated to a larger urban size in terms of population and housing, determine the effect of alternative urban patterns - compact or dispersed - on the cost of provision, and calculate optimal population densities as targets for urban planning. We illustrate the practicality of our model using Spanish municipal data, and unveil latent economies of scale and suboptimal urban densities due to excessive dispersion. Based on these findings we propose specific policy guidelines in terms of desirable urban structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the spatial pattern of just-in-time (JIT) adoption for a sample of medium-sized and large Spanish manufacturing firms. JIT differs from other advanced manufacturing technologies because it relates directly to the spatial co-ordination of firms' internal production organisation with the external productive environment and depends on the quality of the transport system. Our results confirm the distinctive role of location for JIT adoption even after controlling for industry and plant-specific differences. We find that JIT adoption is greater in smaller cities but with higher transport accessibility indicating that urban congestion in larger urban areas likely reduces the benefits that firms may obtain from JIT implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty is a topic not examined in depth in input- output (IO) analysis, especially from an empirical approach. We propose the use of the information obtained in the surveys conducted to create the IO technical coefficients matrix to adequately take into account the inherent uncertainty it contains. We propose a Beta distribution probability as a very suitable hypothesis and we have tested it in the Andalusian IO table. We have created probability intervals for each one of the coefficients and defined associated fuzzy coefficients, which allows us to obtain an interval IO matrix and to derive first order interval multipliers. Resumen La incertidumbre es un tema que no se trata en profundidad en análisis de input- output (IO), especialmente desde un punto de vista empírico. Proponemos el uso de la información obtenida en los muestreos realizados para crear la matriz de coeficientes técnicos de IO, para tener en cuenta de manera adecuada la incertidumbre inherente que contiene. Proponemos la distribución beta como una hipótesis de distribución de probabilidad muy apropiada, la cual hemos probado con la tabla IO de Andalucía. Hemos creado intervalos de probabilidad para cada uno de los coeficientes y definido coeficientes difusos asociados, que nos permiten obtener una matriz IO de intervalo y deducir multiplicadores de intervalo de primer orden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyse the degree of female wage discrimination, its evolution over time and its distribution for socio-economic groups in the Galician region with respect to the rest of Spain. First we will try to explain the causes of the gender wage differential, and second, we will discuss the evolution of the wage gap between 1995 and 2002 in order to shed light on the potential factors of wage discrimination persistence in Galicia and Spain. Finally, we will examine the distribution of the degree of discrimination by using the discrimination curve and discrimination indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a series of novelties with respect to previous studies of the effect of productive infrastructures on output growth. We study public investment in road infrastructures as a determinant of the total factor productivity (TFP) growth for Spanish provinces (NUTS 3) for the period 1984–1994. We allow the effect of road infrastructures to depend on the extent of the road use by provincial industries, proxied by these industries’ vehicle intensity. Moreover, we consider the services provided by the stock of road infrastructures as an impure public good, that is, one that is subject to congestion. Finally, using the instrumental variables technique, we account for possible problems of endogeneity in the regressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article estimates the effect of Spanish regional trade agencies abroad on exports using the gravity model. The results indicate that regional agencies increase trade. The estimated impact seems to be larger than that of Spanish embassies and consulates. Moreover, a disaggregated analysis shows that this effect is not evenly distributed across Spanish regions. Este artículo estima el efecto de las delegaciones comerciales regionales en el extranjero sobre las exportaciones utilizando el modelo de gravedad. Los resultados indican que las delegaciones regionales fomentan el comercio exterior. El impacto estimado parece ser mayor que el de las embajadas y consulados españoles. Por otro lado, un análisis desagregado muestra que este efecto no se distribuye uniformemente entre las regiones españolas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we propose a set of tools for analysing the regional distribution of unemployment. As we are interested in the characteristics of the distribution as a whole, results from a traditional regression analysis are complemented with those obtained by estimating its external shape before and after being conditioned to factors underlying regional unemployment. In addition, we specifically consider the spatial characteristics of the distribution, and the empirical model we develop to determine explanatory factors includes spatial effects. This framework is applied to the study of the provincial distribution of unemployment rates in Spain. Results point to increasing spatial dependence in the distribution of regional unemployment rates, and a change in the factors causing regional differentials over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyze, from an aggregate perspective, the differences in personal saving rates among the Spanish regions at the NUTS II level from 1986 to 1994. In accordance with the postulates of the life cycle hypothesis, we present the main economic determinants for personal saving rates obtained from an aggregate personal saving model. Correcting for temporal and spatial dependence in the empirical model, the analysis suggests the existence of a significant and negative relationship between aggregate personal saving rates and wealth, access to credit and direct tax burdens. Likewise, a nearly significant positive relationship between personal saving rates and per capita gross disposable personal income has been detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Several major changes in educational policies have occurred in Spain over the last four decades. One of these is the re-organization of the educational system beginning in 1970. A policy to encourage the regional spread of universities was pursued over the seventies and eighties. There has also been devolution of power to some regions with respect to the management of the educational system. These policy changes are hypothesized to have resulted in an impact on inter-regional and intra-regional inequality with respect to educational facilities. We investigate the change in inequality that occurred between the 60s and the 70s, and also between the 80s and early 90s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. This article aims to analyze the effects of trade policies on the pattern of regional inequalities within a country. It is inspired, firstly, by the debate concerning the role of protectionist policies in the development of a pattern of striking regional inequalities during the Spanish industrialization process and, secondly, by current evidence of an increase in these inequalities following Spain's entry in the EU, in 1986. We employ an economic geography model comprising three regions: two domestic and one external. Labor mobility is permitted between the domestic regions but not with the external region. The model shows that trade liberalization increases regional inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]