Crisis and Welfare Society in Spain

Some arguments are briefly presented about the negative consequences of the deep global economic and financial crisis of 2008 on the economic activity and the social situation in Spain. Reformulation, sustainability and financial viability of social welfare in Spain require a new management through resource efficiency, increasing market presence and initiative of stakeholders as a whole. In this sense, the main credible argument of the welfare social in Spain depends on a new perspective on socialization and generosity of social protection system. Specifically, the solution to the crisis must come through economic growth, increased productivity, employment and competitiveness and not by the way of increasing levels of social protection.

Spain and Investment Arbitration: The Renewable Energy Explosion

In the past decade, Spain’s generous incentive system for renewable energy production attracted substantial foreign and national investment. However, when the global financial crisis hit, and the consequent reduction of electricity consumption, the incentives began to cause a tariff deficit in the electricity system, leading the Spanish government to cut back and then eliminate the incentives. In the wake of losses, international investors turned to investment arbitration, while national investors could only present their claims before Spanish courts. The result was a potential for differential treatment between national and foreign investors. This paper examines the incentive regime and the government’s changes to it in order to understand the investors’ claims and the reasoning that resulted in their rejections, both in national courts and in the only arbitration award issued up to now. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effect of the renewable energies situation on the investment arbitration debate within Spanish civil society.

Essays on internationalization in the context of heterogeneous firms

The significant increase in global trade flows in last decades has been one of the main features of the globalization process that started in the 1950s. In general, the main factors behind this increase were linked to (i) the significant reductions of trade costs and technical barriers; (ii) the improvements in transport infrastructure and telecommunications; (iii) the progress of the international financial system and the increasing legal certainty; and (iv) the development of a corporate culture that promotes the internationalization of firms as a strategic tool in order to survive and to grow. The remarkable increase of trade openness has also been observed in the Spanish economy. In this regard, it is clear that the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession of Spain to the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1986 played a main role in this dramatic increase. In addition, and because of the deep depression of domestic demand caused by the global financial and economic crisis that started in 2008, the external trade has become a key driver in the economic recovery of the Spanish economy...