Mateo, J.P. (2015). "The contradictory path of the capital accumulation process in Spain under the Euro", Economics Discussion Papers 2015-3, School of Economics, Kingston University London. (original) (raw)

Housing investment in Spain: has it been the main engine of growth?

Applied Economics, 2013

This paper studies dynamic responses of employment and GDP growth to a permanent, unitary shock in the housing capital stock for the Spanish economy. It quantifies the importance of this variable in the boom experienced by the Spanish economy during the pre-crisis years. Results confirm that building industry has been the most important engine for output and labour growth.

The Evolution of Spanish Total Factor Productivity Since the Global Financial Crisis

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018

Total factor productivity (TFP) is considered the key determinant of long-term and sustainable economic growth. The dismal evolution of TFP characterized the Spanish economy since the foundation of the Eurozone until the outbreak of the Global Financial Crisis [see García-Santana et al. (2016)]. This article provides an anatomy of the recent evolution of Spanish TFP using both aggregate-and micro-level data available until 2016. Three conclusions emerge from our fi ndings: i) while TFP growth remained subdued during the crisis, a TFP revival is taking place over the last years; ii) this pattern is mostly driven by the rise and fall of the capital-to-labor ratio (capital deepening) while the role of labor productivity is more muted, and iii) an across-the-board increase in fi rms' capital-to-labor ratios accounts for most of the TFP decline during the fi rst years of the crisis, while the subsequent TFP revival is explained by the reallocation of resources towards fi rms with low capital deepening.

Capital Accumulation in the Long-Run: The Case of Spain, 1850-2000

Research in Economic History 27 (2010), pp. 93-152

New series of Spain’s capital stock and input are constructed for the last one-and-a-half centuries. Capital stock and input grew at average rates of 3.5 and 3.7 percent per year but not at a steady pace since rates accelerated dramatically during the ‘Golden Age’. Two major structural changes accompanied this process. Composition of capital stock and remuneration changed gradually as the contribution of productive capital rose while that of structures declined. Spanish economy experienced capital deepening in the long-run. Although the capital-output ratio increased over time, in phases of accelerated growth the productivity of capital rose.

Long-run Estimates of Physical Capital in Spain, 1850-2000

Open Access publications from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

In this paper, new series of Spain's capital stock and input are constructed for the last one-and-a-half centuries. Capital stock and input grew at average rates of 3.5 and 3.7 percent per year but not at a steady pace since rates accelerated dramatically during the 'Golden Age'. Two major structural changes accompanied this process. Composition of capital stock and remuneration changed gradually as the contribution of productive capital rose while that of structures declined. Spanish economy experienced capital deepening in the long-run. ...

Capital goods, measured TFP and growth: The case of Spain

European Economic Review, 2016

This paper reconciles two, apparently, contradictory facts about the Spanish economy: real GDP per working age person has grown at 2.4 percent during the period 1996-2007, on average, whereas Total Factor Productivity has been stagnant during that period. Here we argue that the Spanish economy has grown, in spite of stagnant TFP, because investment in structures has been heavily subsidized. This inefficiently high rate of investment in structures is the main reason for the increase in hours worked observed during that period. We use a three sector model economy where we distinguish between equipment and structures to quantify the sources of changes in measured TFP in Spain. We find that measured TFP is low because Investment-Specific Technical Change in Spain is very low. A calibrated version of this model is able to reproduce very well the growth experience of Spain for the period 1970-2007. We use the model economy to quantify the cost of direct and indirect subsidies to structures and the gains of eliminating them in terms of TFP and income growth. Our three sector model economy also allows us to quantify the cost in measured TFP of the housing price boom experienced during the 2000s.

Accounting for Growth in Spain, 1850-2019

CEPR: Economic History (Topic), 2020

The current productivity slowdown has stimulated research on the causes of growth. We investigate here the proximate determinants of long-term growth in Spain. Over the last 170 years output per hour worked raised nearly 24-fold dominating GDP growth, while hours worked per person shrank by one-fourth and population trebled. Half of labour productivity growth resulted from capital deepening, one-third from total factor productivity, and labour quality contributed the rest. In phases of acceleration (the 1920s and 1954-85), TFP was labour productivity’s main driver complemented by capital deepening. Since Spain’s accession to the European Union (1985), labour productivity has sharply decelerated as capital deepening slowed down and TFP stagnated. Up to the Global Financial Crisis (2008) GDP growth mainly resulted from an increase in hours worked per person and, to a less extent, from sluggish labour productivity coming mostly from weak capital deepening. Institutional constraints hel...

The impact of the economic crisis on the cost of capital. Evidences from Spain

2015

The economic crisis has caused an upheaval in the financial markets which had affected all the parameters involved in fixing the cost of capital. This study aims to determine how these changes in markets have influenced the WACC of two different Spanish industries. On the one hand a stable and steady industry as the food industry with a low income elasticity of demand. On the other hand the homebuilding industry, this industry had a huge growth before the crisis, almost a bubble, and has suffered the aftermath in a very marked way. The evolution of the cost of capital in the 1998-2013 period shows that the cost of capital of the food sector is very stable whatever the model used whereas the cost of capital of the homebuilding industry suffered a sharp decline. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ICBM.2015.1346

Accounting for Spanish productivity growth using sectoral data: new evidence

2001

In this paper we measure, at sectoral level, the sources of Spanish productivrty growth, distinguishing among the roles played by labor productivity, the degree of factor substitution and total factor productivity (Solow residual). In terms of value added, total factor productivity growth in the manufacturing_sector is higher than in services (2.4% and 1.1 % respectively), although the Communication Sector constitutes an exception. In terms of gross production productivity growth in both sectors is virtually the same (0.6% and 0.7% respectively) because of the relative lower weight of intermediate inputs in producing services. During the latest cyclical expansion, 1995-1999, we have observed a marked deceleration in labor productivity, associated to an increase in employment, and to a deceleration in the capital-labor ratio, while total factor productivity has remained more stable.

The Productivity Paradox and the New Economy: The Spanish Case

2007

This paper studies the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on economic growth in Spain using a dynamic general equilibrium approach. Contrary to previous works, we use a production function with six different capital inputs, three of them corresponding to ICT assets. Calibration of the model suggests that the contribution of ICT to Spanish productivity growth is very relevant, whereas the contribution of non-ICT capital has been even negative. Additionally, over the sample period 1995-2002, we find a negative TFP and productivity growth. These results together aim at the hypothesis that the Spanish economy could be placed within the productivity paradox. JEL classification: E22, O30, O40.