Orkestra and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie) presented the book Un modelo de crecimiento y productividad regional (Marcial Pons, 2012), at the Deusto Business School’s office in Madrid, on June 26.

The presentation involved the participation of Bernabé Unda, Councillor of Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism of the Basque Government; José Luis Curbelo, General Manager of Orkestra, and the Directors of the study Matilde Mas, Professor of Economic Analysis and Research Professor at Ivie; and Mikel Navarro, Professor at Deusto University and Senior Researcher at Orkestra.

Beyond the current events approach dominating the economic debate, the book analyses Spain’s productive performance from a triple perspective. Firstly it offers a long-term reflection, identifying the strengths and weaknesses which arise in an economy. Secondly it shows, via sectorial analysis, the differences in productivity between economic sectors, and finally, by means of an international analysis, it compares Spanish productivity with that of the European Union, the United States and Germany.

The study highlights the following weaknesses of the Spanish economy and, to a lesser degree of the Basque economy, with a view  to surviving the crisis: (i) the slow increase in productivity in every sector during the years of expansion; (ii) the significant rise in unitary labour costs in relation to current economic reality; (iii) the scant investment in assets linked to new information and communication technology (TIC); and (iv) the reduced contribution of the service sector to growth in productivity.

To acquire a copy of the book click here.

Presentation