The aim of this paper is to measure the influence of the railroad in the urbanization of Spain between 1860 and 1910. Our sources are from quantitative information -censuses of population-and qualitative one -coastal condition, existence of mining industry or industry, administrative capital and date of the railway connection-. We have estimated a first model of data panel in differences. Based on this model we have employed different estimation techniques in order to address omitted variables and/or endogeneity of the train variable. Results from all estimations give us clear evidence of the positive influence of the railroad on the urban growth. In addition a quasiexperiment design reinforces this conclusion. In short, although moderate, our paper shows strong evidence of the influence of the railroad on Spanish urbanization. This conclusion is coherent with other research.

The degree of development of Spanish agriculture at the end of the XIX century and the beginning of XX is a controversial issue. In this respect the study of the integration of the domestic market could provide new evidence since the degree of the market integration can be considered an indicator of economic development.By using regional wheat prices this paper analyzes the Spanish market integration between 1891 and 1905. With this aim in mind we employ the usual cointegration approach as well as an alternative method based on spectral analysis that allows taking into consideration the existence of no synchronized cycles.

C22, E32, F15, Q10,

This study tests for parameter instability in the Spanish consumption function. To that end, a new test for time dependence of parameters is used and compared with other relevant tests. As opposed to other tests this new one is concerned with detecting parameter variation in frequency domain.

La hipótesis de que los gastos en consumo puedan ser asimétricos es del máximo interés desde el punto de vista de la política económica. Si determinados elementos del consumo agregado reaccionan de forma diferente en las fases de alza y caída del ciclo económico, dicha información habrá de ser tenida en cuenta a la hora de diseñar medidas activas de estímulo a la demanda. En este trabajo tratamos de contrastar si los gastos de consumo españoles presentan esta característica. Empleamos para ello dos versiones de un estadístico de contraste basado en el concepto de deformación temporal que resulta especialmente apropiado para este objetivo. Adicionalmente y dado que las asimetrías en dichos gastos han sido relacionadas con la durabilidad, como segundo objetivo de este trabajo trataremos de ver si realmente existe una relación entre bienes de consumo duradero y conducta asimétrica. La evidencia empírica hallada muestra que existen asimetrías en diferentes categorías de gasto, si bien no es ésta una característica específica de la durabilidad