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79 Working Paper

International Capital before "capital internationalization" in Spain, 1936-1959.

2001 – Julio Tascon

Abstract

In this paper I continue reconstructing the path followed in Spain by foreign economic players through the period 1936-1959, the former one before “capital internationalization” (the paradigm created by Muñoz, Roldán and Serrano, 1978). The first attempt was made about Swiss investments (Carreras/ Tascón, 2000). This issue was focused on foreign direct investment, although foreign contributions financing the Spanish Civil War, the external debt and the main portfolio (or real estate investments) are also discussed here. Main legal framework is remembered as well as some results showed previously, in order to get the best ranking idea among foreign investments. The foreign investment trend drawn from the beginning to the end of the years considered–accordingly with the path in the sixties–finally shows the United States leadership. U.S. direct investments data emerge as the most reliable and available for improving the FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) picture concerned. U.S. data show up good evidence and therefore a very good proof of the great impact of FDI in the Spanish economy during this period. The case of foreign sources has made this insight possible, also for challenging the conventional wisdom on the scarcity of foreign investment in Spain from 1936 to 1959. There was foreign investment in spite of very strict legal restrictions, despite the Franco “autarchy,” surely–of course– because a network enabling with investments existed before 1936.

 
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