24 - Iberian Globalization and Catching Up in the Poor South European Periphery, 1830–2010

Summary

The story told in this chapter is that of two major waves in liberalization and globalization, occurring in the second halves of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Iberian economies participated in both waves, but in a way different from the core European economies. During the first globalization boom, despite the smaller domestic market, Portugal was more protectionist than Spain, what probably discouraged export competitiveness in international markets, and promoted a bigger dynamism in pushing more labour and pulling more capital lending from abroad. During the second globalization, Portugal was slightly more trade-friendly and international labour integrated than its Iberian neighbour, as expected for an economy with a small domestic market, and a robust global migration network. Finally, after fast industrialization and welfare convergence process to the more prosperous Europe, both Iberian countries have recently enjoyed, within the scope of European Institutions, more balanced growth and active participation in the international economy, at least until the financial crisis of 2008.