Emili Tortosa-Ausina
Biographic Data
| ID | 269526 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Emili Tortosa-Ausina |
| GIVEN NAMES | Emili |
| FAMILY NAME | Tortosa-Ausina |
| SIGNATURE | TORTOSA-AUSINA E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universitat Jaume I |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7873-1714 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
How do university missions impact regional development? An exploration of Spanish public universities
We evaluate empirically how the efficiency of Spanish public universities impacts regional economic performance in Spain during the period 2010–19. Efficiency is measured using activity analysis methods that attempt to capture how universities perform in their respective missions: teaching, research and knowledge transfer. We analyse the geography of higher education by examining efficiency at the provincial (NUTS-3) and regional (NUTS-2) levels,…
On the Evolution over Time of Financial Inclusion: A New Multivariate Index for Mexican Municipalities
Access to financial services is unequal around the world. In many countries, less than half of the population has an account at a financial institution, and this lack of access to finance is often a critical reason behind income inequality and uneven growth. This is the case of Mexico, where financial exclusion affects large shares of the population, mainly in rural and poorer localities. This is an ongoing concern for policymakers, since it unde…
Vertical Transfers, Political Alignment, and Efficiency in Local Government
When decentralized governments share the public budget, distributive policies are needed to allocate public goods and services among them. To date, however, both the theoretical and empirical literature has largely examined the effect of political orientation on the quantity of transfers received, without considering how efficiently they are managed. This article aims to fill this gap by linking the literature on political alignment and transfers…
On the Relative Contributions of National and Regional Institutions to Economic Development
Institutional quality is recognized as a fundamental driver of long‐run growth (Acemoglu et al. 2005) and it has been widely studied at both country and regional levels in the economic growth literature. Nevertheless, the literature is scant on the question of how this relationship behaves when the hierarchical structure of regions and countries is considered. To fill this gap, we propose a novel approach to the question, relying on multilevel ec…
On the impact of next generation EU funds: A regional synthetic control method approach
The European Union’s Next Generation EU (NGEU) program and its implementation through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) were conceived with the premise of promoting a coordinated fiscal response within the European Union to address the challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. The program provides Member States with access to grants and concessional loans aimed at supporting their recovery and resilience plans, which must incorporate …
Politics Versus Economics: The Case of Spanish Regional Financing
The relationship between fiscal autonomy and regional economic outcomes is a critical question in political science and the study of federalism. This article examines how Spain’s asymmetric fiscal system has shaped regional inequality, focusing on two opposing cases: the Basque Country, which enjoys significant fiscal autonomy through the 2002 Basque Economic Agreement, and the Valencian Community, persistently underfunded under the 2001 common f…
Urban–rural links in relaunching left-behind places: The case of Portuguese municipalities
During the last few decades, the gap between the most prosperous metropolitan areas and the rural areas has widened, especially since the 2008 crisis. This gap has been particularly relevant in relation to population and employment. However, the bi-directional links in terms of population and employment between rural places and the most urbanized areas have been partly overlooked by the literature. At the same time, recent studies have brought th…
Evaluating the spatial mismatch between population and factor endowments: The case of the European Union
Considerable research has been conducted on the trade-off between reducing regional inequality and promoting regional growth. However, there is a lack of empirical research exploring the relationship between this trade-off and the spatial mismatch between the distribution of regional populations and the spatial distribution of regional factor endowments. This paper assesses the existence of spatial mismatches between production factors and popula…
The geographic visualization of financial inclusion and exclusion in Mexican municipalities
In this paper, we present a gridded population cartogram illustrating a recently constructed financial inclusion index for Mexico 2020 (Dircio-Palacios-Macedo et al., 2023). Its importance relies in that it allows us to identify the municipalities with different levels of financial inclusion in a geographical disaggregated manner, which can be used for the ultimate goal of relevant policy analysis
Quality of government and economic growth at the municipal level: Evidence from Spain
This paper analyzes the relationship between government efficiency—an important dimension of quality of government—and economic growth at the municipal level in 1,820 Spanish municipalities during the period 2008–2015. At this level of disaggregation, the literature is virtually nonexistent due to severe data constraints. The efficiency of local government provides an accurate indicator of how good local authorities are in managing their budget. …
Spatio-sectoral heterogeneity and population–employment dynamics: Some implications for territorial development
Grounded in the general equilibrium framework of regional adjustment models, this paper studies how the spatial distribution of sectoral employment can affect the intra-regional spatial location of a population, and so affect territorial development. Although spatial interactions, spatial heterogeneity and sectoral heterogeneity have been introduced in these models, no empirical studies reveal how spatio-sectoral heterogeneity affects the intra-r…
Explaining local governments' cost efficiency: Controllable and uncontrollable factors
Searching for the optimal territorial structure: The case of Spanish provincial councils
Modern states are organized in multilevel governance structures with economic and political authorities dispersed across them. However, although there is relatively widespread consensus that this form of organization is preferable to a centralized authority, the same cannot be said about its jurisdictional design – that is, how to transfer authority from central states to both supra- and subnational levels. This lack of consensus also exists in c…
Evaluating local government performance in times of crisis
In recent years, Spanish local governments have come under increasing pressure to accommodate severe economic restrictions while maintaining their \nprovision of local public services. We analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish \nlocal governments during the period of the economic crisis (2008–2013), \nunder four different non-parametric methodologies. Moreover, given how \nproblematic it is to precisely define what municipalities do, we compa…
Comparing the Performance of National Educational Systems: Inequality Versus Achievement
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain. Regional Studies. The links between financial deregulation and economic performance are evaluated in a European context. Specifically, the study analyses the relaxation of bank branching restrictions in Spain, which triggered a remarkable interregional expansion of savings banks that coincided with an unprecedented period of sustained economic expansion. Although related questions …
The cost efficiency of water utilities: When Does Public Ownership Matter
This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some …
A New Interpretation of the Distance Puzzle Based on Geographic Neutrality: Economic Geography
One of the most remarkable features of globalization is that advances in technology have contributed to reducing the costs of trade (e.g., transportation and communication costs) and thus have boosted international trade. Under these circumstances, the importance of distance should have diminished over time, which would constitute a boon for countries that are far from the main centers of economic activity. However, one of the best-established em…
Weighted convergence and regional clusters across China
Devolution Dynamics of Spanish Local Government
Over the last few years, there has been a devolutionary tendency in many developed and developing countries. In this paper we propose a methodology to decompose whether the benefits in terms of efficiency derived from transfers of powers from higher to municipal levels of government (the 'economic dividend' of devolution) might increase over time. This methodology is based on linear programming approaches for efficiency measurement. We provide an…
Measuring Globalization of International Trade: Theory and Evidence
Evaluating local government performance in times of crisis
In recent years, Spanish local governments have come under increasing pressure to accommodate severe economic restrictions while maintaining their \nprovision of local public services. We analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish \nlocal governments during the period of the economic crisis (2008–2013), \nunder four different non-parametric methodologies. Moreover, given how \nproblematic it is to precisely define what municipalities do, we compa…
Measuring Globalization of International Trade: Theory and Evidence
Explaining local governments' cost efficiency: Controllable and uncontrollable factors
Devolution Dynamics of Spanish Local Government
Over the last few years, there has been a devolutionary tendency in many developed and developing countries. In this paper we propose a methodology to decompose whether the benefits in terms of efficiency derived from transfers of powers from higher to municipal levels of government (the 'economic dividend' of devolution) might increase over time. This methodology is based on linear programming approaches for efficiency measurement. We provide an…
Searching for the optimal territorial structure: The case of Spanish provincial councils
Modern states are organized in multilevel governance structures with economic and political authorities dispersed across them. However, although there is relatively widespread consensus that this form of organization is preferable to a centralized authority, the same cannot be said about its jurisdictional design – that is, how to transfer authority from central states to both supra- and subnational levels. This lack of consensus also exists in c…
Comparing the Performance of National Educational Systems: Inequality Versus Achievement
The cost efficiency of water utilities: When Does Public Ownership Matter
This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some …
Spatio-sectoral heterogeneity and population–employment dynamics: Some implications for territorial development
Grounded in the general equilibrium framework of regional adjustment models, this paper studies how the spatial distribution of sectoral employment can affect the intra-regional spatial location of a population, and so affect territorial development. Although spatial interactions, spatial heterogeneity and sectoral heterogeneity have been introduced in these models, no empirical studies reveal how spatio-sectoral heterogeneity affects the intra-r…
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain. Regional Studies. The links between financial deregulation and economic performance are evaluated in a European context. Specifically, the study analyses the relaxation of bank branching restrictions in Spain, which triggered a remarkable interregional expansion of savings banks that coincided with an unprecedented period of sustained economic expansion. Although related questions …
On the impact of next generation EU funds: A regional synthetic control method approach
The European Union’s Next Generation EU (NGEU) program and its implementation through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) were conceived with the premise of promoting a coordinated fiscal response within the European Union to address the challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. The program provides Member States with access to grants and concessional loans aimed at supporting their recovery and resilience plans, which must incorporate …
Urban–rural links in relaunching left-behind places: The case of Portuguese municipalities
During the last few decades, the gap between the most prosperous metropolitan areas and the rural areas has widened, especially since the 2008 crisis. This gap has been particularly relevant in relation to population and employment. However, the bi-directional links in terms of population and employment between rural places and the most urbanized areas have been partly overlooked by the literature. At the same time, recent studies have brought th…
Evaluating the spatial mismatch between population and factor endowments: The case of the European Union
Considerable research has been conducted on the trade-off between reducing regional inequality and promoting regional growth. However, there is a lack of empirical research exploring the relationship between this trade-off and the spatial mismatch between the distribution of regional populations and the spatial distribution of regional factor endowments. This paper assesses the existence of spatial mismatches between production factors and popula…
A New Interpretation of the Distance Puzzle Based on Geographic Neutrality: Economic Geography
One of the most remarkable features of globalization is that advances in technology have contributed to reducing the costs of trade (e.g., transportation and communication costs) and thus have boosted international trade. Under these circumstances, the importance of distance should have diminished over time, which would constitute a boon for countries that are far from the main centers of economic activity. However, one of the best-established em…
Weighted convergence and regional clusters across China
Measuring Globalization of International Trade: Theory and Evidence
Weighted convergence and regional clusters across China
Devolution Dynamics of Spanish Local Government
Over the last few years, there has been a devolutionary tendency in many developed and developing countries. In this paper we propose a methodology to decompose whether the benefits in terms of efficiency derived from transfers of powers from higher to municipal levels of government (the 'economic dividend' of devolution) might increase over time. This methodology is based on linear programming approaches for efficiency measurement. We provide an…
A New Interpretation of the Distance Puzzle Based on Geographic Neutrality: Economic Geography
One of the most remarkable features of globalization is that advances in technology have contributed to reducing the costs of trade (e.g., transportation and communication costs) and thus have boosted international trade. Under these circumstances, the importance of distance should have diminished over time, which would constitute a boon for countries that are far from the main centers of economic activity. However, one of the best-established em…
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain
Rich regions, poor regions and bank branch deregulation in Spain. Regional Studies. The links between financial deregulation and economic performance are evaluated in a European context. Specifically, the study analyses the relaxation of bank branching restrictions in Spain, which triggered a remarkable interregional expansion of savings banks that coincided with an unprecedented period of sustained economic expansion. Although related questions …
The cost efficiency of water utilities: When Does Public Ownership Matter
This study explores the impact of different ownership types on the efficiency of water utilities. Theories and evidence have shown a puzzling relationship between ownership and performance. Moreover, relatively recent contributions (Andrews et al. 2011) have argued that this relationship can be further convoluted by the effect of organisational and environmental variables. The current study aims to contribute to this literature by providing some …
Evaluating local government performance in times of crisis
In recent years, Spanish local governments have come under increasing pressure to accommodate severe economic restrictions while maintaining their \nprovision of local public services. We analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish \nlocal governments during the period of the economic crisis (2008–2013), \nunder four different non-parametric methodologies. Moreover, given how \nproblematic it is to precisely define what municipalities do, we compa…
Comparing the Performance of National Educational Systems: Inequality Versus Achievement
Explaining local governments' cost efficiency: Controllable and uncontrollable factors
Searching for the optimal territorial structure: The case of Spanish provincial councils
Modern states are organized in multilevel governance structures with economic and political authorities dispersed across them. However, although there is relatively widespread consensus that this form of organization is preferable to a centralized authority, the same cannot be said about its jurisdictional design – that is, how to transfer authority from central states to both supra- and subnational levels. This lack of consensus also exists in c…
Quality of government and economic growth at the municipal level: Evidence from Spain
This paper analyzes the relationship between government efficiency—an important dimension of quality of government—and economic growth at the municipal level in 1,820 Spanish municipalities during the period 2008–2015. At this level of disaggregation, the literature is virtually nonexistent due to severe data constraints. The efficiency of local government provides an accurate indicator of how good local authorities are in managing their budget. …
Spatio-sectoral heterogeneity and population–employment dynamics: Some implications for territorial development
Grounded in the general equilibrium framework of regional adjustment models, this paper studies how the spatial distribution of sectoral employment can affect the intra-regional spatial location of a population, and so affect territorial development. Although spatial interactions, spatial heterogeneity and sectoral heterogeneity have been introduced in these models, no empirical studies reveal how spatio-sectoral heterogeneity affects the intra-r…
The geographic visualization of financial inclusion and exclusion in Mexican municipalities
In this paper, we present a gridded population cartogram illustrating a recently constructed financial inclusion index for Mexico 2020 (Dircio-Palacios-Macedo et al., 2023). Its importance relies in that it allows us to identify the municipalities with different levels of financial inclusion in a geographical disaggregated manner, which can be used for the ultimate goal of relevant policy analysis
Urban–rural links in relaunching left-behind places: The case of Portuguese municipalities
During the last few decades, the gap between the most prosperous metropolitan areas and the rural areas has widened, especially since the 2008 crisis. This gap has been particularly relevant in relation to population and employment. However, the bi-directional links in terms of population and employment between rural places and the most urbanized areas have been partly overlooked by the literature. At the same time, recent studies have brought th…
Evaluating the spatial mismatch between population and factor endowments: The case of the European Union
Considerable research has been conducted on the trade-off between reducing regional inequality and promoting regional growth. However, there is a lack of empirical research exploring the relationship between this trade-off and the spatial mismatch between the distribution of regional populations and the spatial distribution of regional factor endowments. This paper assesses the existence of spatial mismatches between production factors and popula…
On the Relative Contributions of National and Regional Institutions to Economic Development
Institutional quality is recognized as a fundamental driver of long‐run growth (Acemoglu et al. 2005) and it has been widely studied at both country and regional levels in the economic growth literature. Nevertheless, the literature is scant on the question of how this relationship behaves when the hierarchical structure of regions and countries is considered. To fill this gap, we propose a novel approach to the question, relying on multilevel ec…
On the impact of next generation EU funds: A regional synthetic control method approach
The European Union’s Next Generation EU (NGEU) program and its implementation through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) were conceived with the premise of promoting a coordinated fiscal response within the European Union to address the challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. The program provides Member States with access to grants and concessional loans aimed at supporting their recovery and resilience plans, which must incorporate …
Politics Versus Economics: The Case of Spanish Regional Financing
The relationship between fiscal autonomy and regional economic outcomes is a critical question in political science and the study of federalism. This article examines how Spain’s asymmetric fiscal system has shaped regional inequality, focusing on two opposing cases: the Basque Country, which enjoys significant fiscal autonomy through the 2002 Basque Economic Agreement, and the Valencian Community, persistently underfunded under the 2001 common f…
How do university missions impact regional development? An exploration of Spanish public universities
We evaluate empirically how the efficiency of Spanish public universities impacts regional economic performance in Spain during the period 2010–19. Efficiency is measured using activity analysis methods that attempt to capture how universities perform in their respective missions: teaching, research and knowledge transfer. We analyse the geography of higher education by examining efficiency at the provincial (NUTS-3) and regional (NUTS-2) levels,…
On the Evolution over Time of Financial Inclusion: A New Multivariate Index for Mexican Municipalities
Access to financial services is unequal around the world. In many countries, less than half of the population has an account at a financial institution, and this lack of access to finance is often a critical reason behind income inequality and uneven growth. This is the case of Mexico, where financial exclusion affects large shares of the population, mainly in rural and poorer localities. This is an ongoing concern for policymakers, since it unde…
Vertical Transfers, Political Alignment, and Efficiency in Local Government
When decentralized governments share the public budget, distributive policies are needed to allocate public goods and services among them. To date, however, both the theoretical and empirical literature has largely examined the effect of political orientation on the quantity of transfers received, without considering how efficiently they are managed. This article aims to fill this gap by linking the literature on political alignment and transfers…
Economics (15 works) · Political science (9 works) · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth (8 works) · Geography (8 works) · Local Government Finance and Decentralization (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Economic geography (6 works) · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy (6 works) · Local government (6 works)