IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jitecd/v8y1999i4p389-417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic growth and the long run balance of payments constraint in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Jose M. Serrano Sanz
  • Marcela Sabate
  • Dolores Gadea

Abstract

The Thirlwall's Law test has been extensively employed in order to explain, from the demand side, the differences in rates of economic growth between countries. In this paper the test is put to an alternative use, namely to explain the uneven economic growth experienced in one single country, Spain, during two different periods, 1940-59 and 1960-85. Specifically, we seek to determine whether the liberalization of Spanish trade which preceded its integration into the EEC (1960-85) - insofar as this liberalization increased the possibilities of placing national production in the foreign market-might explain the higher rate of economic growth enjoyed during this period, as compared with the earlier period of economic autarky (1940-59). To that end, we estimate the corresponding export and import demand functions (using the Autoregressive Distributed Lags methodology and the cointegration approach of Johansen) and apply the McCornbie test. We conclude that the Spanish balance of payments, although determining the difference in potential growth between the two periods, did not function, strictu sensu, as a demand constraint. Rather, the responsibility for this lay with prices, which relaxed the limits imposed by foreign demand on growth during the autarky period and tightened them during the liberalization period.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose M. Serrano Sanz & Marcela Sabate & Dolores Gadea, 1999. "Economic growth and the long run balance of payments constraint in Spain," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 389-417.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jitecd:v:8:y:1999:i:4:p:389-417
    DOI: 10.1080/09638199900000024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638199900000024
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09638199900000024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johansen, Soren & Juselius, Katarina, 1990. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Inference on Cointegration--With Applications to the Demand for Money," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 52(2), pages 169-210, May.
    2. Hubert Hieke, 1997. "Balance-Of-Payments–Constrained Growth: A Reconsideration of the Evidence for the U.S. Economy," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 313-325, March.
    3. Anthony P. Thirlwall, 2011. "The Balance of Payments Constraint as an Explanation of International Growth Rate Differences," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 64(259), pages 429-438.
    4. J. S. L. McCombie & A. P. Thirlwall, 1994. "Economic Growth and the Balance-of-Payments Constraint," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-23121-8, March.
    5. John S.L. McCombie, 1997. "On the Empirics of Balance-Of-Payments–Constrained Growth," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 345-375, March.
    6. Thirlwall, Anthony P & Hussain, Mohammed Nureldin, 1982. "The Balance of Payments Constraint, Capital Flows and Growth Rate Differences between Developing Countries," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 498-510, November.
    7. H. Sonmez Atesoglu, 1997. "Balance-Of-Payments–Constrained Growth Model and Its Implications for the United States," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 327-335, March.
    8. J. S. L. McCombie & A. P. Thirlwall, 1997. "The Dynamic Harrod Foreign Trade Multiplier and the Demand-orientated Approach to Economic Growth: an Evaluation," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 5-26.
    9. A. P. Thirlwall, 1997. "Reflections on the Concept of Balance-Of-Payments–Constrained Growth," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 377-385, March.
    10. Sanz, José María Serrano & Castillo, M. Jesús Asensio, 1997. "El ingenierismo cambiario. La peseta en los años del cambio múltiple, 1948–1959," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 545-573, December.
    11. Johansen, Søren & Juselius, Katarina, 1992. "Testing structural hypotheses in a multivariate cointegration analysis of the PPP and the UIP for UK," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1-3), pages 211-244.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anthony Philip Thirlwall, 2012. "Balance of Payments Constrained Growth Models: History and Overview," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Elias Soukiazis & Pedro A. Cerqueira (ed.), Models of Balance of Payments Constrained Growth, chapter 1, pages 11-49, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. A. P. Thirlwall, 2013. "Economic Growth in an Open Developing Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15208.
    3. Santiago Grullón, 2013. "Effects of Price and Income on International Travel to the Dominican Republic: Co-integration and Causality Results," Journal of Empirical Economics, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 107-114.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. A. P. Thirlwall, 2013. "Economic Growth in an Open Developing Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15208.
    2. Frederico Gonzaga Jayme Jr, 2001. "Notes on trade and growth," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG td166, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    3. Zhandos Ybrayev, 2022. "Balance-of-payments-constrained growth model: an application to the Kazakhstan’s economy," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(4), pages 745-767, December.
    4. Ricardo Azevedo Araujo & Gilberto Tadeu Lima, 2007. "A structural economic dynamics approach to balance-of-payments-constrained growth," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 31(5), pages 755-774, September.
    5. Ricardo Azevedo Araujo, 2012. "New Insights from a Structural Economic Dynamic Approach to Balance of Payments Constrained Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Elias Soukiazis & Pedro A. Cerqueira (ed.), Models of Balance of Payments Constrained Growth, chapter 8, pages 217-238, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, 1999. "Mexico's Economic Growth and the Balance of Payments Constraint: A cointegration analysis," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 149-159.
    7. Vidal Alejandro, Pavel & Fundora Fernández, Annia, 2008. "Trade-growth relationship in Cuba: estimation using the Kalman filter," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    8. Anthony Philip Thirlwall, 2012. "Balance of Payments Constrained Growth Models: History and Overview," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Elias Soukiazis & Pedro A. Cerqueira (ed.), Models of Balance of Payments Constrained Growth, chapter 1, pages 11-49, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Senay, Acikgöz & Mert, Merter, 2015. "The endogeneity of the natural rate of growth: An alternative approach," Economics Discussion Papers 2015-2, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Palacios C., Juan Carlos, 2019. "External constraints on the Cuban economy in the current environment of uncertainty," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    11. Ahmad Jafari Samimi & Ramezan Hosseinzadeh, 2011. "Foreign Trade and Economic Growth: Evidence of Thirlwall’s Law in Iran," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 2(2), pages 81-88.
    12. Dillon Alleyne & Alfred A. Francis, 2008. "Balance Of Payments‐Constrained Growth In Developing Countries: A Theoretical Perspective," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 189-202, May.
    13. Araujo, Ricardo Azevedo, 2013. "Cumulative causation in a structural economic dynamic approach to economic growth and uneven development," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 130-140.
    14. Gouvea, Raphael Rocha & Lima, Gilberto Tadeu, 2011. "Balance-of-payments-constrained growth in a multisectoral framework: a panel data investigation," MPRA Paper 29816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Félix Jiménez, 2018. "Capacidad productiva, cambio técnico y productividad: Estimaciones alternativas del producto de largo plazo," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2018-454, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    16. Juan Carlos Moreno‐Brid, 2003. "Capital Flows, Interest Payments and the Balance‐of‐Payments Constrained Growth Model: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 346-365, May.
    17. Penelope Pacheco-Lopez & A.P. Thirlwall, 2005. "Trade Liberalisation, the Balance of Payments and Growth in Latin America," Studies in Economics 0505, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    18. Chassem, Nacisse Palissy, 2011. "Hypothèse de Thirlwall: cas des pays de la zone Franc [Thirlwall’s hypothesis : the case of countries of the Franc Zone]," MPRA Paper 29990, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Christine Carton Madura, 2009. "Mecanismos kaldorianos del crecimiento regional: Aplicación empírica al caso del ALADI (1980-2007)," Economic Analysis Working Papers (2002-2010). Atlantic Review of Economics (2011-2016), Colexio de Economistas de A Coruña, Spain and Fundación Una Galicia Moderna, vol. 8, pages 1-24, May.
    20. Ricardo Azevedo Araujo & Joanílio Rodolpho Teixeira & Cristiane Soares, 2015. "Export-led growth vs growth-led exports: what matters for the Brazilian growth experience after trade liberalization?," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 3(1), pages 108-128, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jitecd:v:8:y:1999:i:4:p:389-417. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJTE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.