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This paper evaluates whether the learning mechanisms of the European Cohesion policy have contributed to improve the economic impact of Structural Fund expenditure over time. It analyses whether the evolution of the policy in response to greater internal monitoring and external scrutiny has resulted in a more efficient and better targeted Cohesion policy. This is tested using an econometric model which evaluates the effect of Structural Fund expenditure on the growth of regional GDP per capita —conditional on factor endowments, institutional quality and initial conditions— during the last programming periods for which full sets of data are available (1994-1999 and 2000-2006). The results of the analysis unveil an increase in the effectiveness of the policy in successive periods. This positive association is robust to controlling for the level of development of the country and the relative economic position of a region within a country. The results also show that, when structural factors are taken into consideration, Structural Fund investment tends to yield higher returns in better-off countries and wealthier regions within countries

This paper analyzes the evolution of gender segregation in Spanish labour market between 1996 and 2010, with particular emphasis on the different trends Spanish regions. For this purpose, two measures are used: the first one is Karmel and MacLachlan index and the second one uses «segregation curves» and applyes Gini index. The results show a deep heterogeneity in regional segregation, as well as a different gender contribution to explain the evolution of segregation.

This paper aims to analyze regional variability in youth poverty in Spain. We deploy the Spanish Survey of Income and Living Conditions to conduct a random effects or multilevel logit model. Results point to regional variability due to diverse impact of age, human capital, living arrangements, number of children, nationality and the recent economic crisis. Regional differences do not entirely respond to the variables included in the analysis and may be explained by other indicators such as those related to the structure of the productive system or the redistributive capacity of the social benefits from the autonomous communities.

Why do exports grow faster in some regions than in others? The regional literature has traditionally answered this question using a shift-share analysis, which focuses on regional differences in the composition of international exports by industry and destination. In this paper we apply an intensive/extensive margin decomposition framework, which separates the role of new trade relationships, product survival and product deepening to explain the differences in international exports growth across Spanish regions. Unlike the predominance role of the intensive margin in country-level studies, our results show that both the intensive and the extensive margin can be very important components of regional exports growth. Moreover, the relevance of each component varies to a great extent across regions. Our findings suggest that policies implemented to promote exports should be designed at the regional level.

In this work we go through the economic literature that has quantifiedin the last years the macroeconomic effects of public infrastructures at theregional level. The paper offers, from the point of view of the authors, a review ofthe most significant contributions to the production function and cost function approaches.In the analysis we put the emphasis on results obtained for the Spanisheconomy. Likewise, the conclusions are entirely devoted to extract recommendations,that should be taken in mind, when designing public investment policies ofinfrastructure endowment in Spain.

This paper focuses on the new architecture of Cohesion Policy andthe new European financial framework within which it is set. The discussion is dividedinto five sections. Section one examines the structure of the new European FinancialFramework, highlighting its impact on financial transfers between Europeand Spain. In section two the new architecture of Cohesion Policy is explained,pointing out the relationships with related agriculture and fisheries policies and endingwith an assessment of the principal features of the new Cohesion policy architecture.Section three examines the financial resources behind Cohesion Policy andtheir distribution in Spain. In section four the discussion shifts to a consideration ofthe concepts of convergence and the nature of regions. Finally the conclusion suggeststhat there are significant administrative, financial and strategic planning implicationsof the new financial framework and remodelled Cohesion policy: for economicdevelopment in general and for regional development in particular over thecoming years.

This paper analyses the determinants of internal migration in Spain from a regional standpoint. For this purpose, it develops both a nonparametric and semiparametric approach. The general conclusion that it is drawn from the study is that migratory movements are very persistent and mainly respond, though weakly, to the differentials of per capita income, unemployment rates and housing costs between regions.