This course studies the evolution of the Spanish economy and its institutions during the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular it aims at examining the historical roots of Spanish economic backwardness, its pattern of industrialization and its trajectory of economic growth and convergence with the most developed countries of the world.

Students should be able to understand:



1. Basic economic and historical concepts and processes in 19th and 20th century Spain

2. The historical evolution of the economic institutions and different historical events taking into account their multiple and varied sources, agents, and driving factors (holistic perspective)

3. The spatial and temporal dimension of the economic institutions, processes, and events

4. Historical texts and sources, as well as the most common graphic and statistical ways of representing data in economic history.



Students are expected to:

1. Acquire and develop research capabilities in seeking information and data (libraries, web…)

2. Read the materials and papers distributed by the teacher

3. Participate in class discussions on assigned selected readings

4. Write essays of between 2,000 and 3,000 words

5. Participate in team-work

1.The coming of the liberal State and the Industrial Revolution

1.1.The crisis of the Ancient Regime and the rise of a liberal state: agrarian reforms and other institutional changes

1.2.Population and urban growth

1.3.Agrarian expansion: technology and changes in productive factors

1.4.Industrialization and its limits

1.5.Transport revolution and the integration of the domestic market: infrastructures, networks and systems of communication



2.The Spanish economy in the first third of the 20th century

2.1.Tariffs and interventionism: a new economic policy

2.2.The spread of the Second Industrial Revolution: modern firms and new technologies

2.3.The role of banks and of the state in the economy

2.4.Internationalization, external openness and economic fluctuations



3.The Spanish Civil War and the economic autarchy (1936-1959)

3.1.War, interventionism, isolationism and backwardness

3.2.Industrialization and import-substitution in the 1950s

3.3.A strong but highly inefficient entrepreneurial public sector



4.The golden years: economic growth and structural change (1959-1973)

4.1.Liberalization and external openness

4.2.Rural exodus and the modernization of Spanish agriculture

4.3.Industrial growth: international specialization and technological change

4.4.Urbanization and new patterns of consumption

4.5.The role of tourism and of foreign investment

4.6.Human capital formation and its limits



5.Institutional and political change, economic crisis and integration into the European Economic Community (1974-1992)

5.1.The economic crisis and its impact in the Spanish industry

5.2.Industrial restructuring and banking crisis

5.3. Growth and structural change, 1986 to 2008

5.4. The integration into the EEC: challenges and opportunities

5.5.The Basque economy: self-government and Concierto Económico (Economic Agreement)

Magister classes are focused on presenting the basic contents of the subject: data, facts, discussion and interpretations, following the schedule presented in the syllabus



Seminars and practices will be devoted to class discussion and to get the students familiarized with the historical sources, statistics and charts and tables commonly used in the discipline.

• Final Assessment System
• Tools and qualification percentages:
  • Written test to be taken (%): 70
  • Team projects (problem solving, project design)) (%): 30

The assessment is based on different activities that must be undertaken by the student: final written exam, individual and/or team work, written essays on selected readings, practices, and assignment questions.



The final grading is the weighted sum of the final written exam (70%), plus the student’s activity in seminars and practices (30%).



Students will be informed about the assessment criteria of the final exam at the professor’s tutorial sessions.



Students must be aware and follow the protocol for both academic ethics and prevention of dishonest or fraudulent practices when taking assessment tests and writing academic essays at the UPV/EHU



In the event that a student chooses to waive the continuous evaluation, he/she should submit a written application to the professor within the first nine weeks of the semester.

Written exam 100% of the final grade

Books that are listed in the Basic bibliography and other sources and files that might be delivered to the students through eGela platform.

Basic bibliography

BARCIELA, C., LÓPEZ ORTIZ, I., MELGAREJO, J., and J. A. MIRANDA (2001), La España de Franco (1939-1975). Economía, Madrid, Síntesis.

BERNAL, A. M., and A. PAREJO (2001), La España liberal (1868-1913), Madrid, Síntesis.

BRODER, A. (2000), Historia económica de la España contemporánea, Madrid, Alianza.

CARRERAS, A., and X. TAFUNELL (2022), Between Empire and Globalization: An Economic History of Modern Spain, Londres, Palgrave Studies in Economic History.

COLLANTES, F. (2017), La economía española en 3D. Oferta, demanda y largo plazo, Madrid, Pirámide.

COMÍN, F., HERNÁNDEZ, M., and E. LLOPIS (2003), Historia Económica de España siglos X-XX, Barcelona, Crítica.

GERMAN, L., et al. (2000), Historia económica de España. Una perspectiva regional, Barcelona, Crítica.

NADAL, J., and CARRERAS, A. (1992), Pautas regionales de la industrialización española (siglos XIX y XX), Barcelona, Ariel.

TORTELLA CASARES, G. (2000), The development of Modern Spain. An Economic History of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.

In-depth bibliography

CARRERAS, A., and X. TAFUNELL, Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX y XX, Barcelona, Crítica-Fundación BBVA.
GARCÍA RUIZ, J. L., and C. MANERA (Coords.), Historia empresarial de España: una perspectiva regional, Madrid, LID Editorial.
NADAL, J. (Dir.) (2008), Atlas histórico de la industrialización española, Barcelona, Crítica-Fundación BBVA.
NADAL, J., CARRERAS, A., y SUDRIÀ, C. (1987), La economía española en el siglo XX. Una perspectiva histórica, Barcelona, Ariel.
PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA, L. (2017), Spanish Economic Growth, 1850-2015, Londres, Palgrave MacMillan.

Journals

Revista de Historia Económica. Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History
Revista de Historia Industrial
Historia Agraria
Investigaciones de Historia Económica

Web addresses

http://www.aehe.net/docencia.html (teaching webpage of the Spanish Association of Economic History, with a lot of interesting material and links to texts, documents, videos and other teaching and learning resources)
http://www.ine.es
http://www.ivie.es (databases on capital stock, human capital and social capital)
http://www.rtve.es (podcasts and movies)
http://www.rtve.es/filmoteca/ (news and documentaries of the Spanish filmmaking authority, NO-DO, created by the Franco government in 1942)
http://www.march.es (audio and mp3 archive of public lectures)