Industrial Employment Growth in Spanish Regions - the Role Played by Size, Innovation, and Spatial Aspects

position of Catalonia in the restructuring area, with a higher than average growth of
productivity accompanied by a lower increase in employment.

The results are very different if we use a softer hypothesis and affirm that “regions with the
highest share of small firms should be those with the highest employment growth,
independently of the industrialisation degree of the region” and graph the relationship
between the share of small firms and Relative Employment Growth. As it can be see in Figure
7, most of the Spanish regions are drawn in the line that support the assumption: 9 regions
have a higher than average share of small firms combined with a higher employment growth,
meanwhile other two regions, Madrid and Catalonia, also support the assumption since they
have a lower than average rate of employment growth and, at the same time, a lower share of
small firms.

Figure 7.- Share of Small Firms versus Relative Employment Growth.

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Relative Employment Growth

Finally, the softer hypothesis can be tested against Relative Productivity Growth. The
assumption is rejected, as it is shown in Figure 8. Seven regions support the hypothesis, and
ten rejected it. Especially relevant is the situation of the most developed Spanish regions:
Catalonia, Madrid, the Vasque Country and Navarre are all of them in the area with higher

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