Adolfo Maza

Regional disparities in the EU: mobility and polarization

The aim of this paper is to analyse some relevant aspects of regional disparities in the EU. The paper departs from standard analysis of convergence by tracking the evolution of the entire distribution, both by using nonparametric techniques and spatial econometric techniques. The main results confirm that: (a) regional disparities across the EU are large and persistent; (b) the ranking among the European regions is very stable; (c) there is a noticeable regional income polarization in Europe.

Globalisation, Growth and Convergence

This paper, devoted to the study of globalisation, analyses two distinct but closely related issues: First, it aims at evaluating disparities in the degree of globalisation observed in a sample of 101 countries over the period 1970–2005. Second, the paper tries to shed some light to the much debated issue of whether globalisation affects economic growth and, in so doing, whether convergence in globalisation brings about convergence in per capita income. The results obtained are both encouraging: on the one side, as it is shown that there has been a clear process of globalisation convergence; on the other, the paper concludes that globalisation has been one of the main drivers of economic growth, thus fostering convergence in per capita income.

Productivity convergence in the European regions, 1980-2003: a sectoral and spatial approach

This article analyses the evolution of the EU productivity between 1980 and 2003, both across regions and sectors. By making use of various techniques (cross-section, nonparametric and spatial approaches) it concludes that: (1) the regional and sectoral dispersion of productivity is quite high; (2) the gains experienced in aggregate productivity are due entirely to the sectors productivity growth effect; (3) there is a weak beta-convergence process at the aggregate and sectoral levels; (4) the accounting decomposition of the aggregate productivity convergence process reveals the sectoral productivity growth effect to be the only responsible factor for regional catching-up; (5) finally, there are clear signs of spatial dependence which, when properly addressed, increase the speed of convergence at the aggregate level.

Provincial Disparities in Post-reform China

Using conventional and novel techniques, the present paper analyzes the main characteristics of Chinese provincial disparities during the reform period, specifically between 1978 and 2007. After dismissing the presence of spatial dependence, three main results are obtained: first, provincial inequalities have basically followed a “V” trend; second, grouping China into three large regions shows that inequality mainly lies within each region, particularly in coastal areas; and third, the analysis of intra-distribution dynamics reveals that, although there was some significant mobility in provincial relative income, particularly until 1990, the whole period persistence in the ranking of income levels is a major feature. This might provoke some changes in the policy approach to dealing with spatial disparities.

Provincial Wages in Spain: Convergence and Flexibility

This paper analyses the performance of provincial Spanish wages during the period 1985—2003. Using both traditional and recent analytical approaches, related to spatial econometrics, non-parametric and semi-parametric techniques, the paper reveals that a process of wage convergence has taken place. However, this does not preclude that mobility within the provincial wage distribution is small. The paper also shows that the degree of provincial wage flexibility is very low, which is in accordance with the institutional framework of wage formation in Spain.

Trade openness, income levels, and economic growth: The case of developing countries, 1970--2009

This paper attempts to investigate the extent to which trade openness has had an impact on the levels of income and rates of growth in a sample of 115 developing countries for the period 1970–2009. Additionally, to assess whether there is an income level threshold for a country to benefit from international trade, the sample is broken down into three mutually exclusive groups of countries: low-income, lower middle-income, and upper middle-income countries. The main novelty of the paper lies on the use, on the one hand, of a new and better trade openness measure and, on the other hand, of non-stationary heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques to cope with the problem of cross-sectional dependence. The results show a positive bi-directional relationship between trade openness and income level in the long run, thus suggesting that trade openness is both a cause and a consequence of the level of income. The results for the short run, that is, the link between openness growth and economic growth, go in the same direction.

Regional Productivity Distribution in the European Union: Which are the Influencing Factors?

The aim of this paper is to analyse some relevant aspects on productivity distribution in the European Union at regional level. Firstly, the paper examines its external shape and intra-distribution dynamics. Subsequently, an analysis of the factors that might be behind the productivity distribution and its dynamics is carried out. The results, represented by means of a relatively new visualization tool, highlight the role played by factors such as geographical location, compensation per employee and investment per employee in explaining this issue.

A New FDI Potential Index: Design and Application to the EU Regions

Abstract The aim of this paper is to propose a new way of computing the FDI Potential Index to address the issue of FDI attractiveness at the EU regional level. This new index employs a sound way of selecting the variables involved in its construction, for which a factor analysis is performed. Accordingly, six factors (“economic potential”, “market size”, “labour situation”, “technological progress”, “labour regulation” and “competitiveness”) are identified. Next, by applying the methodology of composite indicators and considering different weighting and aggregation schemes, three versions (un-weighted linear, weighted linear and weighted geometric) of the new FDI Potential Index are computed. Afterwards, the comparison of the weighted linear version of the Potential Index with the conventional FDI Performance Index allows us to apply the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) FDI typology. The results reveal considerable heterogeneity among EU regions in terms of FDI attractiveness, and that regions belonging to the same group of the UNCTAD classification are highly concentrated from a geographical perspective. In view of these findings, we compute an additional version of both the FDI Potential and Performance indices, in which the geographical location of each region plays a key role. Based on these spatial indices, some general policy implications are drawn.

Wage flexibility and the EMU: a nonparametric and semiparametric analysis for the Spanish case

According to OCA theory, the creation of the EMU reinforces the role of wage flexibility as an adjustment instrument alternative to the exchange rate in order to mitigate the negative effects of asymmetric shocks. This paper uses the case of Spain as the frame of reference within the EMU – in order to ensure data homogeneity – and examines wage flexibility in the Spanish provinces using both nonparametric and semiparametric techniques. The main result of the paper is that the labour market appears to be quite rigid and, therefore, adverse shocks could have serious consequences in the future.

The Effects of Trade and Trade Facilitation on Economic Growth in Africa

This study investigates the effects of trade and trade facilitation on economic growth in Africa. To do so, we measure trade facilitation by means of three indicators, namely trade, export and import related costs, constructed by using principal component analysis. These indicators, in addition to several policy-relevant variables, are used as exogenous variables to estimate an augmented growth model which, with the aid of a dynamic system GMM estimation technique, properly addresses potential endogeneity concerns. The findings suggest that trade facilitation serves as an important channel through which trade affects economic growth.