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n.40 imprese e storia 115
The role of small- and medium-sized firms
in the industrial development of Spain (1959-1975)
— Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés*
This paper analyses the period of economic development that Spain underwent between
1959 and 1975, focusing on small- and medium-sized firms across the whole range of
industry. It is argued in this paper that small- and medium-sized firms played a crucial
role in this process. The conclusion that may be drawn from the INE income data for
small- and medium-sized enterprises is that these firms enjoyed the greatest growth
over this period.
JEL classification: N64, N84, O14.
Keywords: Spain, economic growth, small and medium firms, industry.
1. Introduction
This paper examines the role of small and medium-sized firms in Spain
between 1959 and 1975. This period, of significant growth in the latter years
of the Franco dictatorship, has recently been called the «golden age» of the
Spanish economy, although economists and historians have more commonly
referred to the «age of development»1.
A complete analysis of business in the industrial sector requires examining a
series of factors that explain the role of small and medium-sized firms during
the period of Spain’s economic development. However, such a study is far from
easy. In the first place, this is due to the dearth of statistical sources covering
the full range of business variables, not to mention the very complexity of
industrial activity. Secondly, many small and medium-sized firms work, at least
partly, in the shadows of the informal economy. In this matter, the source used
here, which is the annual census of firms and business activity prepared by
the Spanish National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, or
Ine), is particularly relevant. This source provides valuable information about
the number of companies operating, the size of the workforce and the value of
output, as well as a calculation of the average number of workers. These data
allow us to estimate the evolution of SMEs, and to analyse the industrial sector
as a whole along with its contribution to overall economic growth.
* Leonardo Caruana, Universit y of Granada, Spain; Carlos Larrinaga, University of Granada, Spain; Juan Manuel
Matés, University of Jaén, Spain.
1 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 20 04, pp. 331-364.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
Clearly Spanish industry has been a subject of considerable historiographic
debate on the part of both economists and economic historians, and the
sector is unquestionably basic in the modernization of the country after a
difficult start. This has led some scholars to describe Spain as a «latecomer».
Juergen Donges and Juan Velarde have highlighted the importance of the
industrial sector and, in particular, of the Instituto Nacional de Industria
(Ini). The works of Ramón Tamames and José Luis García Delgado, who
analysed industry as part of the general economy of Spain in this period,
are fundamental to understanding the process. The more specific works of
Mikel Buesa, José Molero and Francisco Braña, meanwhile, addressed overall
development through sector studies in the light of the enormous importance
of economic policy, as well as the adoption of new technologies to develop
industry. Pedro Fraile, Pedro Schwartz, Manuel Jesús González, Pablo Martín
Aceña, Francisco Comín and Antonio Gómez Mendoza form an essential
group of economic historians. The first of these professors stands out for his
analysis of Spanish industry in the first half of the 20th century, while the rest
have concentrated on the evolution of the Ini. A new generation of historians
has also considered Spanish industry over this period. We may also mention
those economic historians who have concentrated on regional industry. In the
case of SMEs José Antonio Miranda analyses the footwear industry, Paloma
Fernández the metal industry, José María Valdaliso, Santiago López, Elola
Aitziber and Mari J. Aranguren the industry of the Basque Country, Igor
Goñi Mendizabal the arms industry in Eibar and José María Ortiz-Villajos
López the equipment industry and automotive components and several other
authors. This brief description of the state of the issue would not be complete
without a mention of papers on the subject of trade, which describe the routes
by which Spanish industry sought to catch up. Manuel de Torres, Ángel Viñas
and José María Serrano Sanz have published seminal work in this regard.
Viñas describes Spain’s trade policy between 1931 and 1975, while Serrano has
insisted on the importance of international trade to the country’s economic
development. And we may mention the quantitative work of Leandro Prados,
Albert Carreras, Antonio Tena and Elena Martínez Ruíz, without forgetting
finally the general theoretical framework, which begins with Alfred Marshal
and Joseph Alois Schumpeter, followed by many others; Waite, Scherer,
Ross, Nicholas, Chandler, Hanks, Weinzimmer, Delmar, Storey, Davidsson,
Gartner, Sexton, Butler, Hansen, Jarillo, Covin, Slevin, Low, MacMillan,
Flamholtz, Randle, Davidsson, Wiklund, Becattini, Trullén, Dei Ottati,
Audrechst, Feldman, Margrit, Müller, Colli and Rose.
The paper is divided into sections, each focusing on one of the main aspects
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
of the subject. Following this introduction, we then go on to examine the
efficiency and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The next section provides an overview of the dynamics of Spanish industry in
the period, leading into a discussion of the importance of small and medium-
sized firms in the golden age of the Spanish economy with the Ine data, pro-
viding a picture of their presence in different industries. We conclude with the
importance of the SME in economic growth.
2. Competitiveness and efficiency of SMEs
First of all we point out the importance of the large firms that Alfred Chandler
explained, that is, the normal evolution of industrial enterprises will tend
towards concentration in a mature sector, for a number of reasons2. In the
first place, the financial capacity of large companies makes it easier for them
to gain access to advanced technologies. Secondly, these firms are in a posi-
tion to deploy more resources in management, and they have enormous power
to attract consumers through advertising. Perhaps the best example of this is
Coca-Cola. Similarly, large companies enjoy competitive advantages in terms
not only of economies of scale and absolute costs, but also of product differ-
entiation and the potential for diversification. They are also better able than
smaller enterprises to compete in international markets and to apply resources
to R&D investment. On this last point, however, we may note that firms at the
cutting edge of technology often do not tend to grow much in size, because
technological dynamism is largely incompatible with an outsize organization.
R&D intensive sectors thus tend to encourage the emergence of new firms,
which are usually small. Schumpeter described how innovation increases the
size of a firm and technological change intensifies in line with the concentra-
tion of the market. Similarly, empirical studies of technological entry barriers
show that the presence of small firms and their contribution to R&D are of
scant relevance3. Consequently, firms’ size and innovative activity are positively
associated. Cebrián has explained that large companies have a greater capac-
ity to generate the cash flow necessary to undertake research, which generally
involves high costs and significant risks4.
There is a minimum efficient size, which is the main technological factor
determining the distribution of firm size and the level of concentration in
2 A. Chandler, 1977.
3 See T. Nicholas, 2003, pp. 1023-1058 and N. Villalba, 2005, pp. 5-28.
4 M. Cebrián Villar , 2005, p. 23.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
any given industry. This depends, in the first place, on capital intensity, which
is an essential factor conditioning the distribution of size. A second factor is
the openness of the market, which benefits large firms due to economies of
scale. Furthermore, open markets stimulate competition, eliminating the least
efficient small enterprises and impelling concentration as a means for firms to
achieve efficiency gains and stay in the business in question5.
Monopolistic businesses are the best placed to reap the rewards of innovation,
and this heightens the incentive for R&D initiatives when there is a chance to
control the market. However, the absence of competitive markets, or control
of a commanding market share, discourages technological change, because the
incumbent feels no threat from the entry of new competitors. This tendency
is more evident where entry barriers are high. As Cebrián argues6, large firms
generally innovate more in highly concentrated industries with significant
entry barriers, while small firms are more innovative in competitive markets.
Likewise, the size of firms has a bigger impact on innovation rates in markets
displaying low levels of technological opportunity. Consequently, where capi-
tal costs and entry barriers are high, small firms make only a limited contribu-
tion to innovation. Obviously, the need to build plants of a minimum efficient
size entails high costs, which constrains the presence of small firms, especially
in the area of process innovation.
Nevertheless, the theory struggles to explain the role of small and medium-sized
firms in certain industrial sectors and the reality is that SMEs are very impor-
tant and make up a great part of the industry. Thus, while economic theory
holds, in principle, that large firms conduct industrial activities more efficiently
(despite all the qualifications made), the reality is that many industrial sec-
tors are in fact highly fragmentary. Gourvish points out that Alfred Chandler
practically did not analyse them7. The theoretical discussion of the importance
of SMEs has been extremely topical in the last two decades8, there is a high
variety of explanations for the success of these companies9, Sexton directly
measured success of SMEs with the growth that can be achieved in different
ways, with vertical integration, related or unrelated diversification, licensing
obtained, alliances or joint ventures10. Another option for growth is network-
based internationalization11. This achievement of small and medium enterprises
5 F.M. Scherer and D. Ross, 1990.
6 M. Cebrián Villar, 2005, pp. 24-25.
7 T. Gour vish, 2005, p. 28.
8 See G.N. Chandler and S.H. Hanks, 1993; L.G. Weinzimmer, P.C. Nystrom and S.J. Freeman, 1998; F. Delmar,
1997; D.J. Storey, 1994.
9 F. Delmar, Davidsson and Gartner, 2003.
10 See D.L. Sex ton, 1997, p. 97; also J.G. Covin and D.P. Slevin, 1997 and M.B. Low and I.C. MacMillan, 1988.
11 J.E. Butler and G.S. Hansen, 1991; J.C. Jarillo, 1989.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
is difficult to measure due to the variety of possible statistics to be used: sales,
assets, employment, market share, profits and supplies12 . The growth is related
to success but also leads to new situations that may jeopardize the company13 ,
so it is one of the great dilemmas for SME growth, that while the benefits are
undeniable, there also remains a rather negative view concerning growth14.
One of the main developments for SMEs is the industrial district studied by
Alfred Marshall. We can highlight Giacomo Becattini among others, to spell
out that the production activities are achieved not only in a single company
– big business – but SMEs can achieve it by concentration in one place15.
Therefore, to a certain extent it solves the problem of the economies of scale,
but generates a high dependence on external conditions. Becattini explained
that the industrial district is a special entity created by a group of companies
in a space that is integrated for mutual benefit16 . Dei Ottati pointed out that
those competitive advantages in merging these companies also serve the social
embedding necessary for their integration17. As Marshall determined, the con-
ditions allowing the development of an industrial district are: a trained and
specialized workforce, efficient organization among firms to achieve competi-
tive production, and high capacity for innovation and flexibility18 . Also of great
importance are the clusters that are evaluated as most innovative and have a
more intensive process of internationalization19, for example, Margrit Müller,
when she analysed Swiss companies, found that although there was a predomi-
nance of big business in the process of internationalization, SMEs now appear
to be the most important20. Paloma Fernandez discussed the Spanish metal
sector where she explains that cooperation predominated in the small and
medium-sized family businesses that follow the guidelines outlined by Anna
Grandori and Giuseppe Soda or Mark Granovetter and Mark Casson21 . These
follow a way of regulating interdependence between different companies that
complement each other, subject to vertical integration with rules that are not
exclusively economic, but incorporate elements such as personal and regional
affinity. That is in no way unique to this case but it is reproduced in many
other States, such as those explained in Colli and Rose22.
12 F. Delmar, 1997.
13 E.G. Flamholtz and Y. Randle, 1990.
14 P. Davidsson, 1989; J. Wiklund, P. Davidsson and F. Delmar, 2003.
15 J. Trullén, 2007, pp. 17-31.
16 G. Becattini, 1991, pp. 51-65.
17 G. Dei Ottati, 2006, pp. 73-87.
18 A. Marshall, 1890 and 1919, chapters 10 and 8.
19 D.B. Audrechst and M.P. Feldman,1996; J.M. Valdaliso, S.M. López, A. Elola and M.J. Aranguren, 2009.
20 M. Müller, M. Hiestand, R. Leu and M. Lüpold, 2009.
21 P. Fernandez Pérez, 2006, p. 71.
22 A. Colli and M.B. Rose, 2003, pp. 28-64.
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In short, the reality is that there are many efficient small and medium enter-
prises. Multiple reasons seem to explain this evidence in the Spanish case.
First, in an initial market there are abundant numbers of small competitors
who mostly lack market power, so theoretically there is pure competition.
Since Spain had a strong economic boom in the 1960s, it is likely that this
phenomenon is visible in some industrial sectors, although in that period it was
rather through imported technology in the form of purchase of equipment,
machinery and patent sale or rent. It followed the general pattern of a country
that had the ability to copy and import technological advances of the more
developed economies. So in a first phase of development, small businesses,
where owner and manager work together, the passage of time could lead to
the formation of large business groups, as might be the case of Inditex, S. A.
and its owner Amancio Ortega. Secondly, small businesses have the advantage
of independence in decision making, which is a great privilege, but the cases
are also included of those who are subject to action by large companies for
their involvement and dependence on the latter. An example of this is small
companies that manufacture parts and auxiliary equipment for the motor
giants. Clearly, these decide directly for them. The third reason that explains
the role of SMEs is found in labor costs, with wages lower than for workers
in large firms and a lower level of Social Security contributions, lower labor
disputes, low levels of unionization, abundance of part-time workers or use of
female labor, which involves even poorer salaries. Other advantages include
trust in family firms and diseconomies of scale as well as the legal weakness in
the Franco era. Finally, to justify the presence of SMEs, we must also consider
factors apart from economic efficiency. This is the case with the toughness
of some small businesses that develop in the market and are sometimes even
accepted or permitted by the major ones.
In this paper, the size of firms is indicated by Ine data referring to the employ-
ee headcount, which in turn allows us to determine the level of concentration
in a given industry and reveals the level of entry barriers and the dynamics of
the sectors concerned. These are small and medium firms up to 50 employees.
Based on Herfindahl’s index, large firms existed in the oil industry, mining
and shipbuilding, in the period analysed (1959-1975). However, the source
used does not provide data on the formation of industrial groups, but only the
number of companies in a given industry. This gap can nevertheless be partly
filled, because the process was significantly slower in the period considered
than in the present day23.
23 M. Buesa and J. Molero, 1998, pp. 71-83.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
A fine example of success is the case of the Spanish footwear industry. In a
sector dominated by SMEs, this was one of the fastest growing industries of
the 1960s. The spectacular export growth achieved after 1960 (annual average
of 41.5 per cent) made footwear manufacturing into one of the country’s lead-
ing industries24. This process contrasts with the theoretical principles referred
to above, because the industry developed its export business despite being
structured around small and medium-sized firms25. Also the government was
involved in training entrepreneurs in order to attain the necessary know-how
for the development of firms. This was of great importance, as we will see for
the SMEs.
The Comisión Nacional de Productividad Industrial (Cnpi) was created for
just this purpose, publishing a range of journals such as Productividad, Boletín
de Información and Selección Técnica. The commission also made 16 films
illustrating new methods of business organization and translated a further
55 foreign productions. Its activities were in fact similar to those of similar
European bodies, but with a lag of some ten years. Between 1953 and 1960,
the Cnpi published 18 books on the subject of business administration, the
majority translations of American works, as well as 8 studies of productivity
in various industries, a range of titles in the field of work organization and a
multitude of short handbooks and booklets. The creation of the Escuela de
Organización Industrial in 1957 represented a qualitative leap in the training
of small and medium entrepreneurs. At the first meeting of the Commission,
held in November 1952, the then minister of Industry, Joaquín Planell, point-
ed to the coal, textile and footwear industries as the most appropriate targets
for the new body to begin its advisory work in, given the importance of these
sectors to output and the improvement of living standards. Interestingly, small
and medium-sized firms predominated in two out of the three sectors the
minister singled out.
In the footwear industry, one of the most fragmented, firms’ initial response
was to ignore the government’s productivity campaign. What really concerned
entrepreneurs in the early 1950s was not the low level of labor productivity,
given the absolutely rock-bottom wages paid, but economic stagnation and
the difficulty of obtaining basic inputs. This trend slowly changed, however,
eventually awakening interest in training issues.
The measures adopted to encourage business training included fostering con-
tacts with American distribution experts (such as Herbert V. Sproat, Louis G.
24 G. Tortella, 1994, p. 286.
25 J.A. Miranda Encarnación, 1998.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
Feman and John W. Goodes) with a view to raising productivity, modernizing
industry and promoting exports. Attendance at trade fairs, the creation of
manufacturers’ associations and the organization of conferences and courses in
the field of exports were all encouraged. The reports prepared by the foreign
specialists unambiguously diagnosed the obstacles in the path of productivity
gains, namely: 1) the small size of footwear manufacturers, which prevented
them from fully mechanizing production or establishing an appropriate divi-
sion of labor; 2) the excessive product diversity at factories, limiting the pro-
ductivity of both capital equipment and labor; 3) the difficulty of obtaining
secure supplies of inputs, in particular cut soles; and 4) the lack of any clear
business strategy.
Meanwhile, the basic approach taken by both small and large firms was to
pay royalties to gain access to new technologies, although they commonly
arranged visits to foreign plants to learn their methods, or invited foreign
technicians to provide instruction on site at Spanish factories, thereby main-
taining ties with the technology providers through technical support agree-
ments26.
3. The dynamics of SMEs in Spanish industry from 1959 to 1975
Following the implementation of the 1959 Stabilization Plan, an expansive
cycle took hold in Spanish industry. Two stages may be discerned here,
coinciding with the evolution of the main variables of the Spanish economy.
Progress was especially rapid until 1966 and more moderate in the ensuing
years27. In general terms, industry was the engine of this rapid economic
growth, not only because the pace of expansion was faster than in other
sectors, but also because of structural changes in the Spanish economy.
Thus, the share of industry in GDP increased continuously and significantly
over this period. This was a structural change, as industry’s share in total
employment and output rose sharply to the detriment of agriculture, with
the industrial labor force increasing from 2.6 to 3.6 million between 1960
and 197428.
This growth in industrial output basically went to meet domestic demand,
exports and intra-industrial demand. It is known that final demand from
domestic consumers varied sharply, in accordance with Engel’s law. Thus, food
26 M. Cebrián Villar, 2005, p. 20.
27 J.M. Matés, 2006, p. 751.
28 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, p. 343.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
and beverages, tobacco and, to a lesser extent, clothing and footwear accounted
for 70 per cent of families’ expenditure in 1958, but had fallen to 47.2 per cent
fifteen years on. High income elasticity goods, in contrast, included health and
leisure services, household improvements and maintenance, consumer durables
(such as furniture and white goods) and domestic service. The largest relative
increase in expenditure was on transport and communications29.
Exports, meanwhile, made only a modest contribution to this industrial
expansion, and it was only by the end of the 1960s that sales abroad started to
rise. If Spain had been an exporter of farm products at the beginning of the
Franco era, by the time of the dictatorship’s demise it had become an exporter
of industrial products. Fully half of these exports consisted of manufactured
consumer and intermediate goods, and a further sixth of capital goods.
Following the Stabilization Plan, foreign demand became a growth factor,
and whereas just 3.8 per cent of total output was exported in 1962, this had
risen to 7 per cent by 1970, a still modest but nonetheless significant figure30.
Finally, the same scholars have stressed the fact that industry was able to create
its own market and achieve continuous expansion.
In any event, the acceleration in industrial output differed widely from one
sector to another. This resulted in a significant gap between the slowest grow-
ing industry (6.8 per cent in the food, beverages and tobacco group) and
the fastest (16.1 per cent in chemicals). The most dynamic industries, with
growth rates of 13 per cent or more, were chemicals, metallurgical products
and mechanical construction, non-metallic minerals and rubber and plastics31.
These changes can also be viewed from a different angle, as shown in chart 1,
where the contrast between the first two columns clearly reflects the shift in
industrial specialization over the period.
The same authors’ reading of the data presented above is most interesting. In
the first place, the food industry was the leader in terms of output in 1960,
but it had slipped to third place thirteen years later after a 6 per cent fall in its
relative share. Something similar could be said of the textile industry, while
mining also lost ground. The loss of share in these cases is clearly visible in the
Ine statistics which, on the one hand, reflect very slow growth in the output of
SMEs in the food and beverages sector and, on the other, evident stagnation
among mining concerns. In contrast, metal products and the manufacture of
transport equipment stand out among the industries that succeeded in rais-
29 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, p. 345.
30 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, pp. 346-347.
31 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, pp. 350-351.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
Chart 1. Breakdown of industrial output at factor cost (1960-1973)*
196 0 19 73 Hypothetical
composition, 1973
Mining 5.86 4.13 1.68
Food products, beverages and tobacco 15.77 9.93 9.73
Tex t il e s 11.33 5.76 5.08
Clothing and footwear 5.91 8.84 5.13
Wood, cork and furniture 5.84 5.32 3.56
Paper, printing and publishing 3.89 5.37 4.10
Chemical industries 9.63 7.16 11.90
Stone, clay, glass and cement 3.86 5.49 6.80
Basic metallurgical industries 6.66 7.82 10.06
Metal and mechanical products 13.45 16.11 19.95
Transport equipment 6.61 10.96 10.94
Sundry industries (leather and rubber) 3.67 6.17 4.13
Electricity, gas and water 7.53 6.95 6.92
General (excl. construction industry) 100.00 100.00 100.00
* Percen tages at cu rrent va lues.
Source: A . Carre ras and X. Tafun ell, 2004 , p. 352.
ing their relative share. Emerging industries also include clothing, footwear
and the sundries group, especially rubber. It is striking that chemicals was
the fastest growing industry in this period, as mentioned above. As Carreras
and Tafunell point out, however, the image reflected in the first two columns
of the chart is significantly conditioned by the evolution of relative prices,
because the values for each column are calculated at 1960 and 1973 prices,
respectively32. However, the main driving force behind the rapid industrial
growth in this period was the increase in productivity. In fact, prices were
generally falling, if not in absolute then in relative terms, in the industries that
made the greatest productivity gains. The third column reveals the influence
of these variations in relative prices. The exercise consists simply of estimating
what the contribution of each industry to output would have been if the price
structure had remained unchanged, which means calculating sector output at
1960 prices. In this case, we may observe that the metallurgical and mechani-
cal industries, as well as chemicals and related industries, made up the core
group of fast-growing industries.
32 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, pp. 353-354.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
In addition to the general increase in demand, we should also mention as
part of the explanation for the industrial growth of this period that the State
relaxed its stranglehold on imports of basic inputs at this time. Likewise,
investment rose, boosting the capitalization of industry. Thus, capital forma-
tion increased at an annual average rate of 7.9 per cent in the period 1964-
1970 and at a rate of 4.5 per cent between 1970 and 197433. Meanwhile,
foreign direct investment, together with imports of capital goods, acted as a
channel for the penetration of more advanced techniques and management
methods. In general terms, this increase in investment served little by little to
replace labor with capital, while improved techniques and organization simul-
taneously reduced not only the need for labor but also for capital per unit of
output and value added34 . Finally, Spain started to export more with a growth
of 13.7 per cent between 1964 up to 1973, thus being one of the countries
with the highest growth in exports in the world during that period and 64
per cent in 1973 were of manufacture goods35. Those exports went mainly to
the European Common Market (average 50 per cent) and more than 10 per
cent to United States36.
Also it is relevant to point out that this development occurred in a highly
interventionist market. A number of studies have highlighted the obstacles to
the creation of new firms in the Spanish economy of the time37. The Ministry
of Industry and Trade exercised strict, discretional control over licenses, at
the same time as channelling investment towards chosen sectors. In order to
adapt, entrepreneurs opted mainly for small-scale ventures, where they faced
less administrative problems.
Essentially, the emergence of numerous small businesses in Spain in the 1940s
and 1950s is explained by two factors, both in response to the economic policy
followed by the dictatorship38. Thus, the high level of protectionism and the
policy of import substitution encouraged the creation of small firms, while
the regulation of industrial investment favored micro-ventures. Meanwhile,
the thicket of regulation and lengthy bureaucratic procedures raised busi-
ness costs, a problem that was compounded by the uncertainty inherent in
the Ministry’s discretional power to award or withhold licenses and permits.
From the outset, these factors, not to mention the oligopolistic conduct of the
33 C. Barciela, M.I. López, J. Melgarejo and J.A. Miranda Encarnación, 2001, p. 415.
34 C. Barciela, M.I. López, J. Melgarejo and J.A. Miranda Encarnación, 2001, pp. 415-416.
35 J.A. Alonso, 1989, p. 297.
36 A. Tena, 2005, pp. 616-617.
37 L.E. Pires, 2005; R. Moreno Fonseret, 2003 and E. Torres, 2003b.
38 J.M. Matés, 2000.
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Spanish economy, hindered the emergence of new initiatives and exercised a
baleful influence on the smallest firms39. Nevertheless, such enterprises faced
less difficulty in obtaining the necessary permits to carry on their business,
since controls were laxer and it was easier to escape the prevailing climate of
interventionism. This group of businesses included the industrial «craft work-
shops», which generally operated with a starting capital of less than 50,000
pesetas and a headcount below 25 workers. Where such firms did not need to
import machinery or scarce raw materials, approval for their formation would
be waved through without excessive procedure. After 1945, moreover, the
outlook for the economy became more positive. At the end of the Second
World War, the Spanish government enacted legislation that was more favora-
ble to business start-ups. Thus, the Act of 15 May 1945 granted tax exemp-
tions for new firms operating in the generation of electricity, the manufacture
of nitrogen-based products and mining40.
Pires provides numerous examples to illustrate the willingness of the authori-
ties to grant licenses to small firms, even where they needed scarce raw mate-
rials and foreign currency, or expected to operate in already saturated indus-
tries41. In such cases, it was argued that the small size of these ventures would
have no impact on the rest of the sector. Meanwhile, small entrepreneurs were
wary of upsizing their businesses in view of the uncertain licensing process,
and they generally preferred not to outgrow the original size of the venture.
In short, then, regulation, suffocating interventionism and the opportuni-
ties offered by the policy of autarky, which to some extent continued until
the 1960s, encouraged the appearance and development of a large number of
SMEs in the industrial sector.
Despite the still strict regulation of industry, licenses for the creation of new
SMEs became relatively easy to obtain after 1959. Rapid growth in the 1960s
favored this trend, while general economic development opened up new
business prospects for numerous small and medium-sized entrepreneurs42. A
significant increase in the number of firms may be observed in the 1960s,
particularly between 1964 and 1967. This seems to be related with substan-
tial earnings growth, which swelled to a cumulative annual rate of 10.36 per
cent in this period. Various factors favored this trend, including the opening
up of foreign relations, US financial aid and a certain relaxation of the once
unbending policy of autarky. The combined effects of this new policy led to
39 M. Cebrián Villar, 2005, p. 13.
40 E. Torres, 2003a, pp. 175, 183.
41 L.E. Pires, 2005, p. 160.
42 E. Torres, 2003a, p. 213.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
an increase in the level of investment and industrial output. The high level
of interventionism in industry directed development towards the domes-
tic market and prevented open competition. This situation, however, had
negative effects for the process of industrial specialization and competitive-
ness. Despite the progress made in the 1960s, labor productivity in Spanish
manufacturing was still below 70 per cent of the OECD average in 1975.
Meanwhile, protectionism provided favorable conditions for the existence of
small firms that were scarcely in a position to adopt new technologies or ben-
efit from economies of scale. Policy measures to foster industrial concentra-
tion failed to halt this trend, even generating situations of underemployment
and low productivity43.
3.1 . The position of small and medium-sized firms in Spanish statistical
reporting
Apart from its increasing dependence on foreign technology, Spanish industry
in this period sheltered behind high tariff walls. As a result, the industrial sec-
tor based development on the domestic market, as we have already mentioned,
where competition from imports was very limited, although this had detri-
mental effects on specialization and productivity gains, as well as competitive-
ness. Protectionism slowed productivity gains in Spanish industry, helping the
survival of firms that were too small to benefit from the available technologies
or achieve economies of scale. According to Carreras and Tafunell, the 1960
tariff allowed Spanish industry to produce goods for the domestic market at
much higher prices than those prevailing internationally44. Furthermore, the
tariff increased further over the following 16 years according to Ine statistics, a
situation that was highly satisfactory for SMEs. As a general perception, then,
small entrepreneurs could not be other than well pleased with the evolution
of business. Their growth was faster than that of industry as a whole, 10 per
cent at this time45, which implies more rapid development among small and
medium-sized than large firms (graph 1). As we are using aggregate data that
are not broken down by industries, it is evident that this reality must fluctu-
ate positively or negatively in individual industries, and it is unquestionable
that the reality of some sectors was far from bright. For industry as a whole,
however, the situation was highly positive, and it would therefore appear that
43 C. Barciela, M.I. López, J. Melgarejo and J.A . Miranda Encarnación, 2001, p. 431.
44 A. Carreras and X. Tafunell, 2004, p. 333.
45 J. Donges, 1976, p. 158.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
Source: our elaboration. Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Estadística Industrial, Madrid, Ine.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Estadística Industrial, Madrid, Ine.
there was no pressing need for firms to increase in size. The National Statistics
Institute’s data reveal that the very smallness of small and medium-sized firms
provided the opportunity for higher earnings over this period, despite the
higher risk involved.
In any event, the importance of SMEs in relation to Spanish industry as a
Graph 1. Annual growth of industrial SMEs, 1959-1975 (% of the industrial sector)
Graph 2. Output of small and medium-sized firms compared to total output
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
1959 1963 1967 1971 1975
0
500.000
1.000.000
1.500.000
2.000.000
2.500.000
3.000.000
3.500.000
4.000.000
4.500.000
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
Total
SMEs
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
whole gradually declined, although small and medium-sized firms retained a
pre-eminent position even at the end of this period (graph 2).
If protectionism was one reason for the resilience of small and medium-sized
enterprise, the dwindling effects of the flexibility measures implemented in
1959 meant, as Manuel-Jesús González has argued, that policy outcomes were
hardly spectacular in terms of reducing the number of industrial smallhold-
ings, which remained very numerous at the end in 197546. In 1959, the Ine’s
industrial statistics showed that 95 per cent of the 120,000 firms counted
had fewer than 50 employees and 79 per cent fewer than ten. In 1975, 97 per
cent of industrial establishments in Spain employed fewer than 50 people, and
the average headcount was 11 employees (graph 3)47. A contemporary study
revealed an industrial structure in which extremes predominated, made up
largely of firms with over 500 employees or fewer than 50. This report con-
cluded that the percentage of firms with fewer than 50 employees was excessive
in most industries except steel-making, mining and shipbuilding48. Far from
declining, then, the fragmentation of Spanish industry had actually increased
over the years. The small size of many of these firms was a root cause of under-
employment and very low levels of productivity.
46 M.-J. González, 1979, p. 317.
47 C. Barciela, M.I. López, J. Melgarejo and J.A. Miranda Encarnación, 2001, p. 431.
48 M.-J. González, 1979, p. 318.
Graph 3. Employees per industrial establishment in Spain (1962-1975)
(average headcount)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
1975
1970
1962
Number of workers
Source: C. B arcie la, M.I. Lópe z, J. Melga rejo and J. A. Mir anda Enc arnaci ón (2001), p. 396.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
New industrial legislation was enacted in 1963 under the ministry of Gregorio
López Bravo with two main objectives. On the one hand, the aim was to solve
the problem of the small size of Spain’s industrial installations and, on the
other, to reduce the regulatory burden on industry that had been a feature
of autarky. As Buesa and Pires have argued, studies of the size of industrial
installations began to appear at the end of the 1950s49. The criticism voiced in
a World Bank report on the Spanish economy published in 1963 was especially
significant in this regard, condemning the welter of small firms as one of the
main reasons underlying the country’s structural problems. Scarce capital, the
narrow confines of the domestic market, isolation and, above all, government
intervention all intensified the problem of fragmentation in Spanish industry
at this time50.
In the opinion of the scholars themselves, the 1959 Stabilization Plan created
a favorable climate for cutting back government intervention and the overregu-
lation of Spanish industry. According to Manuel-Jesús González51, the Decree
of 26 January 1963 was issued still in the liberalising spirit of the Stabilization
Plan, but another issued on 11 March of the same year established technical
conditions and minimum size requirements for the formation of new firms on
the pretext of preventing industrial fragmentation. According to this author,
the new regulations were not strictly enforced, but they nevertheless favored
established firms, which did not have to comply with the minimum size
requirements set for new ventures. It is hardly surprising, then, that entre-
preneurs did not compete by cutting costs or improving product quality, but
rather directed their efforts towards ensuring the application of the regulations
to potential competitors.
Gregorio López Bravo sought to bring an end to the system of official licenses
for the formation of new firms and corporate restructuring that had prevailed
throughout the period of economic autarky, opening the way for a new scheme
of industrial intervention, which was to last practically until 1980. The new
system split industries into three groups. The first included those sectors in
which prior official authorization was required; the second, those that were
deregulated on condition of compliance with certain minimum technical and
administrative conditions; and the third comprised fully deregulated indus-
tries. The new regulation thus reduced the number of industries in which
prior administrative licenses were required (the first group) to a minimum.
49 M. Buesa and L.E. Pires, 2002, p. 169.
50 M. Buesa and L.E. Pires, 2002, p. 170.
51 M.-J. González, 1979, p. 322.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
This policy program therefore did not result in the elimination of all public
intervention in industry, or even a defense of its elimination by economists.
In fact, the small size of industrial firms was used to justify the inclusion of
many sectors in the second group, forcing them to comply with a battery of
mandatory technical conditions and minimum size requirements52. According
to Fabián Estapé, who inspired the Decree of 26 January 1963, one of the
priorities of the legislation was to prevent the emergence of undersized firms53.
Consequently, there were two key conditions for the new regulatory frame-
work. In the first place, it had to be supplemented with other industrial policy
measures, above all to promote concentration, mergers and the formation
of business groups. In the second, flexibility was needed to allow room for
adaptation to circumstances. In any event, these efforts to make the Spanish
economy more flexible were soon foiled. Thus, the liberalizing spirit of Law
152/2 December 1963, originally enacted for this purpose, gradually faded as
secondary legislation was enacted, and the liberalizing drive of 1959 had all
but petered out by 196654.
It is not surprising, then, that the sector restructuring plans launched in the
1960s were applied to industries suffering severe structural problems, largely
due to the fragmentation of output. These schemes involved programs for
the concentration of firms intended to establish production units of a suf-
ficient size by offering incentives. This would allow the new companies to
reap the benefits of economies of scale, improve technology and raise output.
Nevertheless, little was achieved to solve the fragmentation of Spanish enter-
prise, and such efforts as were made were patently inadequate, considering that
concentrations up until 1973 affected fewer than 1,300 firms, a very small
figure. The scant attention to this matter seems to have been due to the inef-
fectiveness of the Franco-era bureaucracy, which weakened the impact of the
incentives, intended to foster business concentration. Official procedures to
obtain aid were slow and costly, while labor legislation hindered job restruc-
turing at every turn. Meanwhile, high tariff barriers co-existed with the sur-
vival of restrictive practices in the domestic market. The combination of these
factors favored the viability of small and medium-sized firms to the detriment
of large business groups55.
According to Buesa and Pires, the share of small firms in industrial employ-
ment neither rose nor fell between 1963 and 1974, and the minimalist poli-
52 M. Buesa and L.E. Pires, 2002, p. 170.
53 F. Estapé, 1964.
54 M.-J. González, 1979, p. 323.
55 C. Barciela, M.I. López, J. Melgarejo and J.A. Miranda Encarnación, 2001, pp. 395-396.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
cies implemented proved insufficient overall to achieve the goal of increasing
the size of Spanish firms56. In any event, outcomes were uneven in different
industries, regardless of mandatory licensing requirements. In some sectors,
the share of companies with very low headcounts did indeed fall. Among regu-
lated industries, for example, this was the case in the manufacture of alcoholic
beverages, fireworks, paper products, chocolate, garments, sundry food prod-
ucts and tanneries. In deregulated industries, the same effect is found in the
manufacture of paraffin and wax, leather goods and secondary wood manu-
facturing. In others, however, the problem merely worsened. In the group of
regulated industries, this was the case with the manufacture of cork products,
cooperage, plaster, sundry fibers, recycled products, veneers and boards, and
non-ferrous metals; among deregulated industries, we may mention adhesives
and fixing agents, pimento and olives. According to these authors, the dynam-
ics of all industrial segments were dependent less on the application of policies
aimed at the creation and restructuring of industries than on the assumption
that the true goals of the regulatory framework were something other than
the declared aims. Basically, this consisted of the notion that regulation would
eventually be used as an entry barrier against new competitors57.
Ine statistics reveal the importance of SMEs in the context of Spanish enter-
prises in quantitative terms. Evidently, the existing trend only intensified
between 1959 and 1961 as a result of the new policy introduced by the
Stabilization Plan. After a brief decline in the first two years, the number of
small and medium-sized firms again evened out. The economic slowdown of
1967 had a marked impact on SMEs, although recovery was quick and contin-
ued until shortly before the crisis of the 70’s.
Despite the small fluctuations in the total number of small and medium-sized
firms reflected in graph 4, the stability of their role in the Spanish economy is
clearly visible. The preference for this model among economic agents is indica-
tive, on the one hand, of a certain confidence in the market, and on the other
of the soundness and resilience of SMEs across industries.
The rate of SME output growth is similar to that for Spanish firms taken as
a whole, confirming their important, indeed decisive, role during the period
of economic development (1960-1975). In the latter years, however, we may
observe a certain slowdown due, in the first place, to the difficulties experi-
enced by small and medium-sized firms in achieving economies of scale and,
in the second, to a certain slowdown in the development process itself.
56 M. Buesa and L.E. Pires, 2002, pp. 176-177.
57 M. Buesa and L.E. Pires, 2002, p. 179.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
3.2. The presence of small and medium-sized firms in different industries
Graph 5 illustrates the preponderance of small and medium-sized firms in con-
sumer goods industries, as well as in the manufacture of metal and mechanical
products. In contrast, SMEs were comparatively rare in mining, energy and
construction materials. Footwear stands out among the first group (consumer
goods) with 2,282 in 1975 employing an average of 24 people. The develop-
ment of the textile industry was similar with some 2,538 garment makers,
1,328 knitwear manufacturers and 590 firms in the wool industry. The food
industry, meanwhile, remained in the hands of small and medium-sized firms
at the end of the period. The figures for the different sub-sectors within this
group illustrate the predominance of SMEs overall with some 2,933 independ-
ent olive-oil mills, 1,276 firms operating in the general foods segment, 1,273
meat packers, 696 flour mills, 471 firms producing animal feeds, 459 dairy
products manufacturers, and so on. According to Ine statistics, the timber
industry was also highly fragmented, as well as wood manufacturing (fur-
niture), where activity was structured around 28,763 small firms employing
just six workers on average, although these enterprises enjoyed high levels of
productivity. Finally, the metal products were still dominated by some 18,000
small and medium-sized firms with an average of 29 employees in 1975
according to the Ine.
The scant presence of small and medium-sized firms in the mining industry
Graph 4. Number of small and medium-sized firms (1959-1975)
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Industrial Statistics, Madrid, Ine.
0
20.000
40.000
60.000
80.000
100.000
120.000
140.000
1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
is all the more apparent if the comparison is made against the total for this
sector. Economies of scale, large investments in technology, uncertainty and
the very magnitude of mining activities at both the financial and the technical
level were factors that discouraged the presence of small entrepreneurs in this
industr y.
In contrast, small and medium-sized firms were strongly positioned in the
food and beverages industry, despite the arrival of multinational concerns in
various segments and the concentration that took place in the early 1960s.
Small firms dominated the canning industry in both fish and vegetables.
The high levels of exports achieved by both branches allowed these firms to
establish themselves firmly in European markets. The meat sector, meanwhile,
underwent intense growth in the number of small firms, despite the appear-
ance of major food groups58.
58 J. Nadal, 2003, p. 246.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Estadística Industrial, Madrid, Ine.
Graph 5. Output of small and medium-sized firms by industrial sector, 1959-1975
(millions of pesetas)
0
100.000
200.000
300.000
400.000
500.000
600.000
700.000
800.000
900.000
1.000.000
1959
1962
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
Not leading industries
Metal and mechanical manufacturing
Chemicals
Energy, extractive industries and construction materials
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
In the group of consumer goods industries, small and medium-sized firms were
strongly positioned in footwear and textiles. The footwear industry in particular
was dominated by the massive presence of small firms. Caution is needed in the
study of this sector, however, given the high rates of clandestine and informal
activity, basically due to the size of the industry’s firms. These had experienced
great difficulty in surviving during the hard times of autarky, because of restric-
tions on imports of raw materials and power shortages. Many folded for lack of
inputs and the constriction of the market. Government intervention relaxed after
1950, however, and business found it easier to gain access to the leather market.
At the same time, Spanish society was gradually feeling the improvement in
purchasing power, with the result that annual growth in the footwear industry
rose to 6.5 per cent. This interim phase was the prelude to extraordinary growth
from 1959 onwards, which was to make Spanish footwear a benchmark for
exports. In 1960 sales abroad accounted for 400,000 pairs of shoes, but by 1967
this figure had soared to 10 million (15 per cent of output) and by 1972 to 50
million (half of output). Annual growth rates between 1960 and 1974 were over
10 per cent. In 1975, Italy and Spain, in that order, led the ranking of footwear
exporting countries with the United States as their largest market59.
Mechanized footwear factories were generally medium-sized firms with
between 25 and 50 employees. Large firms with over 200 employees also exist-
ed, especially in Elda and Elche (Alicante). Meanwhile, firms manufacturing
shoes manually consisted of small workshops employing no more than 10 peo-
ple, who were generally members of the family. A group of intermediate firms
also existed, which had mechanized a part of the manufacturing process but
finished the product manually. These normally had fewer than 50 employees60.
The spectacular growth of the footwear industry was the result of a combi-
nation of factors. Firstly, the liberalizing policy of the early 1960s favored
exports, together with the devaluation of the peseta in 1959. Second, but no
less important, was the spirit of enterprise among the «artisans» of the Valencia
region, who were prepared to take the plunge to become «businessmen», imi-
tating Italian models in the search for markets and customers for their shoes.
The Valencia region and the Balearic Islands were the leading centers of the
industry. Valencia and its hinterland, especially the towns of Elche and Elda
where numerous small firms were based, provided the majority of jobs in the
industry with employment rising from 45 per cent of the total in 1958 to 56
per cent by 1978.
59 J. Nadal, 2003, p. 337.
60 R. Moreno Fonseret, 2003, p. 183.
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
Study of the textile industry is affected by the same problems as footwear,
namely a profusion of informal workshops and business units, the small size
of many ventures and, finally, the very large number and varying size of firms.
Industrial census data reflect a decline in the number of workers employed
in the textiles industry between 1958 and 1978. Output also fell, but not to
the same extent, with a decline of just 7 per cent compared to 42 per cent for
jobs between 1955 and 1975. These data reflect restructuring in the textile
industry during this period. In contrast to the downturn affecting firms in
the cotton and wool segments, knitwear gained strength. The small firms that
dominated the segment were able to adapt to new fashion cycles and acquired
modern machinery that was faster and more efficient (circular looms, Kett,
Cotton and knitting machines). This industry was centered on Barcelona
in the 1960s, particularly in the districts of Mataró, Igualada and Tarrasa.
However, it also extended to other regions, such as Galicia, Madrid, Murcia,
La Rioja, Toledo and Valencia61.
Finally, to understand the general importance of the SMEs we can see graph 6
where it shows the relevance in percentage of these companies in employment.
The drop of 1975 is more related to the change of the statistics in 1972 where
they changed all the repairing of industrial consumer goods to services, so that
it was practically 9 per cent between 1971 and 1972.
61 J. Nadal, 2003, pp. 336-342.
Graph 6. SMEs of total employment
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1960 1966 1970 1975
per cent
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Estadística Industrial, Madrid, Ine.
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the role of small- and medium-sized firms in the industrial development of spain
And the growth that was achieved by these SMEs perhaps led them to decide
not to change because they were doing well in their own terms, see graph 7.
4. Conclusions
Competitiveness and efficiency in firms is one of the core debates in econom-
ics. The data of the Ine contributes to broaden the analysis. The Spanish case
between 1959 and 1975 strengthens the important role of the SMEs in eco-
nomic growth and contributes to the theoretical debate between SMEs and
big firms.
Licenses for creation of new SMEs became relatively easy to obtain after 1959,
and a large number of these firms started up across the whole range of industry,
but particularly in consumer goods (textiles, food, beverages, tobacco, paper
and publishing, wood, furniture, cork products and, especially, footwear).
They also played an important role in metal and mechanical manufacturing.
In contrast, small firms were much less relevant in industries such as chemi-
cals, mining, construction materials and energy. Another factor in the greater
development of SMEs was high tariffs, helping the survival of national firms.
Lacking many of the factors necessary to compete, firms in this period based
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (1959-1975): Estadística Industrial, Madrid, Ine.
Graph 7. Production in million pesetas of 1959 (constant) of SMEs
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
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Leonardo Caruana, Carlos Larrinaga and Juan Manuel Matés
their business models with low wages: characteristic feature of emerging
economies. This allowed them to launch cheaper products on the market with
a clear advantage in exports, which increased substantially during the period,
with the great relevance of the European Common Market that imported
50 per cent of Spanish goods. The other factor that defined enterprise, apart
from low wages, was very long working hours, with a low «hours/labor» ratio.
The case of small and medium-sized firms is closely associated with the gen-
eral evolution of business, where the entrepreneur received scant profits and
returns. From a market standpoint, State protection of industry, which was
based on traditional tariff policies, subsidies and so on, and weak domestic
demand, made the country to a certain extent unattractive to foreign investors,
allowing industrial activity to take off and become the main sector for expan-
sion during the period of economic development.
As argued in this paper, small and medium-sized firms played a crucial role
in this process. During the period considered, firms of this kind over 100
industrial sectors were dominated by SMEs in 1959, the figure had fallen to
86 by 1965, but it had risen again to 91 in 1975. Furthermore, this small vari-
ation can largely be explained by the changing criteria applied by the Instituto
Nacional de Estadística in its statistical reporting. Clearly it is data that con-
firm what the theory discusses largely in the last decades – a greater relevance
of the role of SMEs in the growth of the economies of the countries.
Finally, the major conclusion that may be drawn from the Ine income data
for small and medium-sized enterprise is that these firms enjoyed the greatest
growth over this period with an average growth of 12.25 per cent.
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