Spain

Aid

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI 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 uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

• Score: 4.8
• Rank: 10

• High net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.45%; rank: 9)

• Small amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank as a share of GDP: 17)
• Large share of tied or partially tied aid (26%; rank: 17)
• Selectivity: large share of aid to less poor and worse-governed recipients (rank: 18)
• Contributes to project proliferation; small average project size (rank: 18)

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.

• Score: 6.4
• Rank: 11

• Low tariffs on textiles (6.0% of the value of imports; rank: 3)
• Low tariffs on apparel (6.0% of the value of imports; rank: 3)

• High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to a tariff of 10.9% of the value of imports; rank: 13)

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.

• Score: 6.0
• Rank: 6

• Provides insurance against political risk for both domestic and foreign firms
• Employs tax-sparing arrangements and foreign tax credits to prevent double taxation of corporate profits earned abroad

• Does not provide support for outflows of portfolio investment
• Political risk insurance also given to inefficient, import-substituting projects

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.

• Score: 4.6
• Rank: 12

• Large increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Spain (rank by share of population: 8)
• Large number of immigrants from developing countries entering Spain (rank by share of population: 8)
• Tuition for foreign students the same as for nationals

• Bears small share of the burden of refugees during humanitarian crises (rank: 19)

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.

• Score: 6.6
• Rank: 14

• High compliance with mandatory reporting requirements under multilateral environmental agreements relating to biodiversity (rank: 1)

• High fishing subsidies ($3.40 per person; rank: 20)
• Low gas taxes ($0.80 per liter; rank: 17)

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.

• Score: 2.8
• Rank: 17

• Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 20)
• High arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 14)

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.

• Score: 5.9
• Rank: 7

• High tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D (rank: 2)

• Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain