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Regional Growth and Convergence in Spain: Is the Decentralisation Model Important?

Author

Listed:
  • E. Macarena Hernández-Salmerón

    (Andalusian Council of Economics and Knowledge)

  • Carlos Usabiaga

    (Pablo de Olavide University, Seville. Carretera de Utrera, Km. 1, 41013 Seville. Spain)

Abstract

This paper deals with the effects of political decentralisation on economic growth in Spain, an issue that has generated heated debates in recent decades. Our analysis of the last three and a half decades, a period characterised by the weak narrowing of the income per capita gap within regions, does not offer conclusive results on convergence and points to the importance of alternative factors. Several proxies were used to capture the decentralisation process. We also studied some potential interactions between decentralisation and other variables. All in all, our empirical evidence shows robustly that transferring more responsibilities to subnational governments does not significantly affect growth in any sense.

Suggested Citation

  • E. Macarena Hernández-Salmerón & Carlos Usabiaga, 2017. "Regional Growth and Convergence in Spain: Is the Decentralisation Model Important?," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 67(3), pages 389-412, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aka:aoecon:v:67:y:2017:i:3:p:389-412
    Note: We thank Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Alejandro C. García-Cintado, Diego Martínez-López, Fernando Núñez, Daniel Oto-Peralías, María del P. Pablo-Romero, Julián Ramajo and Diego Romero-Ávila, as well as the participants at EcoMod 2016 Conference (Lisbon) for their valuable comments and suggestions. Carlos Usabiaga acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness under grant ECO2012-35430 and the Andalusian Council of Economics and Knowledge (SEJ-513 PAI Research Group).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic growth; convergence; decentralisation; Spanish regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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