than average growth of productivity combined with a lower share of small firms, rejecting the
conjecture.
Figure 8.- Share of Small Firms versus Relative Productivity Growth
Baleares
О
Aragon
Asturias
O
Cantabria
O
La Rioja
Andaluc :fa
Com. Valenciana
“Г
о
C astilla-La Mancha
Castilla
Murcia
y Leon
Galicia
Extremadura
O
Canarias
O
Cataluna
O
ð. Pa^s Vasco
Madrid ʊ
Navarra
O
-r
3
Relative Productivity Grwoth
2. Spanish Regions’ Growth and Innovative Attitude.
The second hypothesis proposed at the Introduction of the article supported the idea that there
is a positive relationship between innovation activity and economic growth. Its application on
regional studies means that those regions with a higher innovative attitude should be the
regions with higher growth.
The variable selected in order to proxy the innovative attitude of Spanish regions is the share
of high and medium-high technological industries in total industrial employment1213. Its
regional relevance is shown in Figure 9.
12 Industries included on this group are defined in the Appendix.
13 Other variables, specially R+D expenses as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, were also proved, but
the results were very similar since this variable is highly correlated to high and medium-high industries share on
employment.
12