Global Development Matters
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Spain Spain

Next Country: Sweden

Overall score 2008: 5.1
Change since 2003: +0.7 (using 2008 methodology)

Spain ranks 15th overall in 2008. Spain gives only a small share of its income in foreign aid and has one of the worst environmental records in the CDI from the perspective of poor countries. Spain’s highest CDI rank comes in the migration component, thanks to large number of immigrants from developing countries entering the country. Spain also ranks high in the technology component thanks to government policies that support innovation at home and diffusion of technological advances abroad.

Spain Scores 2003-2007

2003: 3.4 2003: 5.9 2003: 3.0 2003: 7.4 2003: 2.5 2003: 3.2 2003: 5.4 2003: 4.4 2004: 3.1 2004: 5.8 2004: 3.0 2004: 5.3 2004: 3.5 2004: 3.3 2004: 5.9 2004: 4.3 2005: 2.8 2005: 6.4 2005: 4.0 2005: 5.6 2005: 3.8 2005: 3.2 2005: 6.1 2005: 4.5 2006: 2.8 2006: 5.9 2006: 5.0 2006: 5.5 2006: 3.8 2006: 3.2 2006: 6.1 2006: 4.6 2007: 3.2 2007: 5.9 2007: 5.3 2007: 7.5 2007: 3.6 2007: 3.3 2007: 5.7 2007: 4.9 2008: 3.3 2008: 5.6 2008: 5.3 2008: 7.3 2008: 4.3 2008: 3.3 2008: 6.6 2008: 5.1 Spain
 

Country Reports

2008 Results

Aid

What it measures

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.

Spain Overall

  • Score: 3.3
  • Rank: 12

Spain Strengths

  • Prevents project proliferation; large average project size (rank: 10)

Spain Weaknesses

  • Small amount of private charitable giving attributable to tax policy (rank as a share of GDP: 16)
  • Large share of tied or partially tied aid (30%; rank: 19)
  • Selectivity: large share of aid to less poor and relatively undemocratic governments (rank: 19)

Trade

What it measures

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 Overall

  • Score: 5.6
  • Rank: 8

Spain Weaknesses

  • High tariffs on agricultural products (38.7% of the value of imports; rank: 18)
  • High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to 12.3% tariff; rank: 12)

Investment

What it measures

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 Overall

  • Score: 5.3
  • Rank: 7

Spain Strengths

  • 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

Spain Weaknesses

  • Does not provide support for outflows of portfolio investment
  • Does not actively participate in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
  • Political risk insurance also given to inefficient, import-substituting projects

Migration

What it measures

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.

Spain Overall

  • Score: 7.3
  • Rank: 4

Spain Strengths

  • Large increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Spain (rank by share of population: 7)
  • Large number of immigrants from developing countries entering Spain (rank by share of population: 2)
  • Tuition for foreign students the same as for nationals

Spain Weaknesses

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

Environment

What it measures

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 Overall

  • Score: 4.3
  • Rank: 19

Spain Strengths

  • Low greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (8.8 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 8)

Spain Weaknesses

  • Only a small decrease in greenhouse gas emissions rate in 1996–2006 (average annual growth rate/GDP, 0.3%; rank: 20)
  • Large number of endangered species imports (rank: 21)
  • High fishing subsidies ($3.82 per person; rank: 17)
  • Low gas taxes ($0.70 per liter; rank: 14)

Security

What it measures

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 Overall

  • Score: 3.3
  • Rank: 19

Spain Strengths

  • Few arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 10)

Spain Weaknesses

  • Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 20)
  • Provides little protection of global sea lanes that are important to international trade (rank by share of GDP: 12)

Technology

What it measures

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 Overall

  • Score: 6.6
  • Rank: 2

Spain Strengths

  • High government expenditure on R&D (rank by share of GDP: 2)
  • High tax subsidy rate to businesses for R&D (rank: 1)

Spain Weaknesses

  • High share of government R&D expenditure on defense (1.7%; rank: 19)
  • Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain