Spain

2012 Results



Aid

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GDP adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes “tied” aid that makes recipients spend aid only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively well-governed recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.


Spain’s aid performance

  • Score: 4.0
  • Rank: 14

Strengths

  • Moderate net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.4%; rank: 11)

Weaknesses

  • Contributes to project proliferation; small average project size (rank: 21)
  • Large share of aid to less poor and worse-governed recipients (selectivity rank: 20)

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.


Spain’s trade performance

  • Score: 5.5
  • Rank: 15

Strengths

  • Low tariffs on textiles (6.4% of the value of imports; rank: 3)
  • Low tariffs on apparel (6.4% of the value of imports; rank: 3)
  • High level of manufactures imports from poorer countries (10.1% of GDP per capita; rank: 4)

Weaknesses

  • High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to a tariff of 12.4% of the value of imports; rank: 17)

Investment

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy investment in developing countries.


Spain’s investment performance

  • Score: 5.9
  • Rank: 8

Strengths

  • Employs tax-sparing arrangements and foreign tax credits to prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad
  • Particularly active in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)

Weaknesses

  • Loopholes in domestic legislation permit bribe payers to circumvent the OECD Convention on Bribery
  • Political risk insurance also given to inefficient, import-substituting projects
  • Does not provide support for outflows of portfolio investment

Migration

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the transfer of skills when the migrants return home.


Spain’s migration performance

  • Score: 5.4
  • Rank: 12

Strengths

  • Large number of immigrants from developing countries entering Spain (rank by share of population: 6)
  • Large increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Spain (rank by share of population: 9)
  • Tuition for foreign students the same as for nationals

Weaknesses

  • Bears small share of the burden of refugees during humanitarian crises (rank: 24)

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.


Spain’s environment performance

  • Score: 6.4
  • Rank: 16

Strengths

  • Low tropical timber imports ($7.15 per capita equivalent; rank: 4)
  • Low greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (7.0 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 6)

Weaknesses

  • High fishing subsidies ($3.36 per person; rank: 23)
  • Low gas taxes ($0.91 per liter; rank: 16)

Security

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.


Spain’s security performance

  • Score: 3.4
  • Rank: 23

Strengths

  • Positions naval fleet to protect sea lanes vital for international trade (rank: 7)
  • Participates in major international security treaties and regimes

Weaknesses

  • Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 23)
  • High arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 19)

Technology

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.


Spain’s technology performance

  • Score: 5.8
  • Rank: 7

Strengths

  • High tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D (rank: 2)
  • Revokes unused patents
  • Provides patent exceptions for research purposes

Weaknesses

  • Allows patents on plant and animal varieties
  • Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain