The sources of economic growth in the Basque Country, Navarre and Spain during the period 1986-2004

Abstract

This paper studies the sources of economic growth in the BasqueCountry and its three historic territories (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa), Navarre, andSpain during 1986-2004, emphasizing the role of infrastructures and Information andCommunication Technologies (ICT) on growth, and comparing the results with thoseof the EU and the US. First, the growth rate of output was higher in Navarre andSpain than in the US, and much higher than in the EU. The Basque Country exhibiteda better performance only during 1995-2004. Second, labor and capital were the mainengines of output growth. The growth in TFP was residual and even declining in theperiod 1995-2004 due to the increasing contribution of labor. Those results contrastwith the pattern for the US especially, where growth in TFP remained substantial.Third, infrastructures contributed approximately 0,10% to output growth. Fourth, thecontribution of ICT capital to output growth was around 0,35% and it increased in theperiod 1995-2004. However, it is still far from the levels for the EU and especiallythe US. Finally, the growth rate of output per hour was above 1,20%, while the BasqueCountry lagged behind. Growth in capital intensity was the main source of laborproductivity growth. While the contribution of infrastructures to the growth rate ofoutput per hour declined in the period 1995-2004, that of ICT capital increased. Neverthelessthe contribution of ICT capital to the growth rate of output per hour remainsbehind that for the EU and the US.

Keywords

• Economic growth accounting
• total factor productivity.