Ayuda oficial al desarrollo y relaciones económicas internacionalestaxonomía de las comunidades autónomas españolas en el periodo 2001-2016

Abstract

The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the relationship between the aid given by Spanish Autonomous Communities within Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Spanish Autonomous Communities's trade and investments carried out with recipient countries, between 2001-2016. Regarding the trade and investment study variables, the following were selected: ODA, exports (EXP), imports (IMP), foreign direct investment (FDI), and foreign investment in Spain (IEE). As specific objectives, the following are proposed: i) Analyze the changes produced in the geographic distribution of Decentralized Cooperation (DC) from the Autonomous Communities between 2001-2016; ii) Analyze whether the national or international regulatory framework (the Declarations of Financing for Development) have influenced the geographical distribution of the DC; and, iii) Identify the motivations of the ODA of the Autonomous Communities as well as the distributive pattern followed during the study period. The general hypothesis proposed is the following: The distribution of ODA from the Spanish Autonomous Communities has not been linked to the commercial relations that these have with the countries receiving aid during the period 2001-2016. The following specific hypotheses are also proposed: i) During crisis stages, the distribution of ODA from the Autonomous Communities has not been directly linked to external commercial activities, and the motivations of ODA depending on the economic period; ii) The distribution of ODA funds by geographic areas does not coincide with the priorities previously defined by the different Autonomous Communities. About the methodology of this study, it is necessary to indicate that the study has a multivariate character, since the five indicated variables will be analyzed, and it has been carried out with the statistical program SPSS, applying multivariate analysis techniques such as factor analysis (AF), which will deal with the underlying interdependence between the variables observed in a previous exploratory analysis and unsupervised classification analysis, such as a cluster analysis, by which we will group data in clusters that will allow us to identify the distributive patterns of the Autonomous Communities-Management Plan of the Spanish cooperation. In terms of the results presented in this thesis, they indicate that at least during the first half of the study period, 2001-2008, the relationship between both components (ODA and commercial variables) has been positive, and the second half, period 2009-2016, and as a consequence of the economic and financial crisis of 2008, the volume of aid began to fall sharply, and at the same time,the commercial variables began to increase. In view of the results we must conclude that the first hypothesis is true. As a second conclusion, the Autonomous Communities, within its regulatory capacity, established an institutional framework, approving instruments that should have marked the roadmap within each defined period. However, in many Autonomous Communities the number of countries that have actually received aid has been higher than those defined in their geographical priorities. Therefore, with respect to the second hypothesis, we concluded that the distribution of ODA funds by geographic areas is not linked to the priorities previously defined by the different Autonomous Communities. In respect to the general hypothesis, it should be noted that the distribution of official aid to the development of the Spanish Autonomous Communities has not been linked to the commercial exchange that these have maintained with recipient countries' aid throughout the period 2001-2016.