Madrid (EFE).- The Bank of Spain considers that there is a “broad margin for improvement” to boost innovation and productivity in the Spanish economy, and one of the key measures is the increase in human capital through training, which could generate more than 2 million jobs.
This amount is obtained by observing that the European countries with a higher level of human capital have, on average, one percentage point more investment in R+D+i (investment, development and innovation) and 10 percentage points more in the employment rate, which which would be equivalent to those two million jobs, as detailed by the Bank of Spain in its latest annual report.
According to the report, the educational level of entrepreneurs, self-employed workers and wage earners in Spain has improved considerably in recent years, but it is below the average for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
35.2% of the self-employed, 32.9% of employers and 28.5% of employed workers had a low level of education in 2022, “much higher” percentages than in the euro zone (20, 7%, 18.9% and 18.2%, respectively).
In addition, the school dropout rate in Spain stood at 13.9% in 2022, compared to 9.7% in the EMU.
This lower level of education has important implications for productivity and employment, two shortcomings that have meant that the growth of the Spanish economy in recent decades “has not been sufficient to achieve convergence with the level of per capita income in the euro area.” ”.
Behind low productivity is “the reduced weight of innovation” in Spain, and to correct it, “very significant changes” will be needed, such as promoting business growth, boosting innovation activities themselves, increasing capital and strengthening the backbone role of institutions and public administrations.
The employment rate is “persistently low” in Spain
A low employment rate is the other factor that explains the lack of convergence of the Spanish economy to the per capita income level of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), something that is observed in “all population groups” and reflects the ” higher relative incidence of unemployment.
With an unemployment rate six percentage points higher than the EMU average, the report suggests an update of passive employment policies -which are mainly contributory unemployment benefits- to expedite the labor reintegration of unemployed workers, since for 18% of the beneficiaries of a maximum benefit (two years) that income ends before having found a new job.
According to the entity, “certain elements of the design of these benefits may discourage an early return to the labor market.”
The Bank of Spain calculates that, if the unemployment benefit collection period is reduced by 5%, while increasing the monthly benefit by two percentage points over the regulatory base, the probabilities of reincorporation to employment rise by 0.11 percentage points, an even more accentuated positive impact for beneficiaries with less education and older age.
In addition to this proposal for passive employment policies, the Bank of Spain points out the need to increase the effectiveness of active employment policies by increasing the human and financial resources of the public employment services.
According to data from the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), only around 2.5% of the contracts started each month are signed thanks to a job offer made through this body.
The Employment Law, definitively approved at the beginning of the year, includes the transformation of SEPE into the Spanish Employment Agency, which aims to improve coordination between the different public institutions that develop active employment policies.