Articles
Bank restructuring and regional economic growth in Spain. Are branches still relevant?
Bank restructuring and regional economic growth in Spain. Are branches still relevant?
Investigaciones Regionales - Journal of Regional Research, núm. 62, pp. 119-146, 2025
Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional

Recepción: 12 Marzo 2024
Aprobación: 19 Julio 2024
Resumen: The restructuring process of the Spanish banking sector initiated after the Great Recession of 2008 has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of bank branches. This paper analyzes the impact of branch closures on GDP per capita, labor productivity and employment per capita of the Spanish provinces in the period 2008–2018. The results show that bank branches have only a weak impact on employment, and no effect on productivity and GDP per capita. Therefore, if consumption and investment decisions of families and firms are affected by branch closures, the impact is not transferred to aggregate regional performance.
Palabras clave: Restructuración bancaria, sucursales, crecimiento económico, provincias españolas.
Abstract: El proceso de reestructuración del sector bancario español iniciado tras la Gran Recesión de 2008 ha supuesto una drástica reducción del número de sucursales bancarias. Este artículo analiza el impacto del cierre de sucursales sobre el PIB per cápita, la productividad laboral y el empleo per cápita de las provincias españolas en el período 2008-2018. Los resultados muestran que las sucursales bancarias tienen sólo un impacto débil sobre el empleo y ningún efecto sobre la productividad y el PIB per cápita. Por lo tanto, si las decisiones de consumo e inversión de familias y empresas se ven afectadas por el cierre de sucursales, el impacto no se transfiere al desempeño regional agregado.
Keywords: Bank restructuring, branches, economic growth, Spanish provinces.
[Para la comprensión de este artículo es necesario consultar la versión en PDF por la inclusión de símbolos matemáticos en la explicación que no son reproducibles aquí.]
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Información adicional
JEL Classification: G21; O10; R11.
Información adicional
redalyc-journal-id: 289