Desinversión y deslocalización de capital extranjero en España

The economic literature has paid little attention to the phenomena of divestment and relocationoffshoring. In the case of Spain, the manufacturing sector, as a whole, and, mainly, the more technologically advanced industries, have been the sectors more affected in the last decade by the disinvestment; but, furthermore, in these industries the inward FDI flows have fallen dramatically. If we analyse how these double process has influenced on the presence of foreign capital —measured through the Central Balance Sheet Data of the Bank of Spain—, a fall in the number of firms and in the size of the capital stock controlled by the foreign capital is verified, thus confirming the significant loss of position on the most advanced industries. Finally, to finish the analysis, we have tried to measure how many of those dissinvestments have led to delocations. We must point out that the foreign firms make more delocation activities than domestic firms, and that it is still key the moving of activities to the European Union, despite the rising importance of low wages countries. And, again, most cases are those related to advanced and intermediate activities, what is relevant in productive terms because it is more difficult for domestic firms to substitute foreign firms in those activities.