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

Figure 9.- Share of High and Medium-High Technological Industries.
Employment. 2002

The presence of highly qualified industries in Spanish regions is very heterogeneous. The
average, 32.6% of industrial employment, is largely surpassed by the most developed areas,
such as Madrid (48.6), Catalonia (44.8), Aragon (43.1), Navarre (38.3), the Vasque Country
(35.8) or Cantabria (36.4). On the other extreme, far below national average, are located
Extremadura (7.8), Canary Islands (12.6), Balearic Islands (14.2) or Castilla-La Mancha
(14.6).

Following Camagni & Capello (1999), our interest is also to identify the innovative regions
characterised by a high share of small firms. In fact, they describe four areas to be tested by
the data:

a) “milieux innovateurs area, characterised by high innovative attitude and a high share of
small firms relative to national level;

b) traditional local districts area, where a greater than (national) average share of small firms
is accompanied by a lower than average innovation rate;

c) lagging large firms areas, characterised by both a lower than average share of small firms
and a lower than average innovation rate;

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