The introduction of sickness insurance in Spain in the first decades of the Franco dictatorship (1939-1962)

[Abstract:]Using new statistical data on financing, coverage and economic and health care provisions, this article analyses how sickness insurance was introduced, managed and extended in Spain, under the Franco dictatorship, between 1939 and 1962. This article highlights how the dictatorship accelerated its implementation for political motives and this resulted in a failure of the system due to the lack of public financing and the high pharmaceutical, medical and infrastructure cost

Labour repression and social justice in Franco’s Spain: the political objectives of compulsory sickness insurance, 1942-1957

[Abstract:]This article analyzes the basic characteristics of the labor and social policies of the Franco dictatorship established in Spain after the Civil War (1936-1939), and the links which existed between them. The offer of support to working families was presented through a paternalistic discourse of ‘social justice’ which was combined with tough repressive measures in the labor market. Within this context, compulsory social insurances pursued a political end, as they served to mitigate social tensions in a context of worker repression and harsh living conditions. Sickness insurance was a key element in this strategy, and it turned out to be very economical for the dictatorship, as the burden of financing the system was placed on employers and, above all, the workers themselves. This led to financial and management problems within a system providing imperfect coverage, with low benefits and serious inequalities in protection. Consequently, Spain moved away from other advanced countries which, at this time, were establishing their welfare states on the basis of two pillars: the universalization of benefits and the redistributive character of the system from a social point of view

Salvador CRUZ ARTACHO y Julio PONCE ALBERCA (coords.),El mundo del trabajo en la conquista de las libertades, Jaén, Universidad de Jaén, 2011, 398 pp.

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Éxito y ocaso de una saga de negociantes catalanes en Galicia: la Casa de Comercio Francisco Ferrer y Albà (1750-1860)

This article tries to review the social and economic phenomenon that meant the arrival of Catalonian businessmen to Galicia in the eighteenth century. This line of research has been extensively studied by the Galician historiography either from a global point of view or through famous business families, most of them have survived till nowadays. However, we can not forget that many of the Catalonian families that arrived at Galician lands had a humbler origin and they were not always successful in business. <i>The Casa de Comercio Francisco Ferrer Albà</i> is an example of this. The history of this saga from its settlement to its decline offers a new perspective of analysis in that we can find a family company, founded by Catalonian promoters, which could not survive the disturbed years that Spain lived from 1750 to 1860.<br><br>Este artículo trata de revisar el fenómeno social y económico que supuso la llegada de negociantes catalanes a Galicia en el siglo XVIII. Este tema ha sido tratado ampliamente por la historiografía gallega bien desde una perspectiva global o bien a través de apellidos empresariales ilustres, muchos de los cuales han sobrevivido hasta nuestros días. Sin embargo, no podemos olvidar que muchas de las familias catalanas que llegaron a tierras gallegas eran de origen más modesto y que el éxito no siempre les acompañó en sus negocios, tal y como le ocurrió a la <i>Casa de Comercio Francisco Ferrer y Albà.</i> La historia de esta saga desde su asentamiento hasta su declive nos ofrece una nueva perspectiva de análisis en la que nos encontramos con una compañía familiar, fundada por fomentadores catalanes, que no pudo o no supo sobrevivir a los agitados años que vivió España entre 1750 y 1860

De aquellas arenas estos lodos: el mercado de trabajo en España desde una perspectiva histórica

[Resumen] El mercado de trabajo ha adquirido un creciente protagonismo en los recientes debates políticos, económicos y mediáticos para explicar las elevadas tasas de desempleo y las dificultades para recuperar la senda del crecimiento económico en la economía española. Pero la mayoría de los argumentos utilizados resultan algo miopes al olvidar la perspectiva histórica. Partiendo de esta idea, este trabajo invita a reflexionar sobre tres cuestiones principales: analizar las características básicas del funcionamiento del mercado de trabajo durante los casi cuarenta años de dictadura franquista; analizar las herencias laborales del franquismo y los cambios producidos en el mercado de trabajo durante la etapa democrática; y, por último, reflexionar sobre el grado de responsabilidad del mercado laboral en las dificultades de la economía española a principios del siglo XXI. [Abstract:]Labour market has gained increasing protagonism in recent political debates, economic and media to explain the high rates of unemployment and the difficulties in recovering the path of economic growth in the Spanish economy. But most of these arguments are somewhat shortsighted because they usually forget the historical perspective. With this in mind, this work aims to think about three main issues. First, it analyzes the basic characteristics of the labour market for almost forty years of Franco's dictatorship. Second, it analyzes the labour legacies of dictatorship and the changes in the labour market during the democratic period. Third, it attempts to question to what extent labour market is responsible for the difficulties of the Spanish economy in the early XXIst century

The labour market under the iron fist of the state’: the Franco dictatorship in the mirror of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin

[Abstract] This article focuses on the idea that intervention in the labour market through the suspension of labour rights and freedoms, fear and a fall in purchasing power all played a key role in achieving political and economic objectives in the regimes of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. However, in each of these cases, the success of this policy was not as had been expected. These European experiences were essential for the configuration of the labour framework in the Franco dictatorship. The iron-fisted control of the labour market came to Spain through legal texts and institutions that were in many cases a blatant copy of those applied in Italy and Germany. In spite of the ideological distance between them, we can also find some common traits with Stalin’s labour policies. The results obtained were even worse for Spain, and the negative effects on the economy were more serious, due to the greater longevity of the Spanish dictatorshi

¿Entre la limosna y el bienestar? Origen, desarrollo y consecuencias de las políticas sociales en Galicia (1890 1935)

This essay tries to analyse the evolution of social policies in Spain, from charity to the first social insurances, through the perspective of a relatively poor and agrarian region as Galicia. By using new quantitative evidence, the regional analysis let us to the conclusion that the progress of social policies before the Civil War hardly helped to reduce social and economic inequalities among regions, since the main policies were gradual oriented to relieve industrial wage earners to problems derived from economic development. Therefore, results were better in the most industrialized regions. But, in general terms, the advance of social policies contributed in a positive way to change the social mentality and to improve the dignity of workers.Este estudio pretende analizar la evolución de las políticas sociales en España, desde la beneficencia hasta la aplicación de los primeros seguros sociales, a través de una región agraria y relativamente atrasada como Galicia. Utilizando nueva evidencia cuantitativa, el análisis regional permite concluir que el desarrollo de las políticas sociales antes de la Guerra civil apenas ayudó a reducir las desigualdades sociales y económicas entre regiones, ya que las principales medidas se orientaron a aliviar a los trabajadores industriales asalariados de los problemas derivados del desarrollo económico. Por tanto, sus resultados fueron más efectivos en los territorios más avanzados, con mayor porcentaje de población industrial. Pero, en general, el avance de las políticas sociales contribuyó de manera positiva a cambiar la mentalidad social y a mejorar la dignidad de los trabajadores

The bottled water industry in Europe, XIX-XXth centuries

[Resumen] Desde un punto de vista histórico, la industria del agua embotellada ha pasado de ser un apéndice del negocio balneario a convertirse en una de las actividades más importantes de la industria alimenticia en Europa. Este trabajo persigue dos objetivos básicos. Primero, conocer las diferentes etapas de la historia empresarial del agua envasada y la confi guración de los grandes grupos empresariales que dominan el mercado actual. Con este fi n, se aporta nueva información estadística sobre la producción y el consumo de agua embotellada desde una perspectiva de largo plazo y se reconstruyen las historias empresariales de las principales marcas de agua envasada de Francia, Italia y Alemania, grandes líderes del mercado. Segundo, se analiza el sector de las aguas embotelladas en España, un país que en las últimas décadas ha conseguido escalar posiciones de manera espectacular en el ranking europeo, tanto en términos de producción como en consumo per cápita.[Abstract] From a historical point of view, the bottled water industry has gone from being an appendage of the spa business to become one of the most important activities of the food industry in Europe. This paper has two basic aims. First, it seeks to identify the different stages of the business history of bottled water and the confi guration of the large corporations that dominate today’s market. To this end, new statistical information is provided on the production and consumption of bottled water from a long-term perspective, and the business histories of the leading bottled water brands in France, Italy and Germany, the major market leaders, are reconstructed. Second, it analyses the bottled water sector in Spain, a country that in recent decades has managed to move up in the European rankings in spectacular way, both in terms of production and per capita consumption

North and South entrepreneurs in Galicia : the case of Pastor and Riestra (1776-1936)

[Resumen] La historia empresarial de cada país ha sido protagonizada en buena medida por sagas empresariales que, acompañadas también por la suerte, supieron encontrar las oportunidades de negocio, arriesgaron e invirtieron y pasaron el testigo de generación en generación. No todas alcanzaron el mismo éxito ni lograron perdurar en el tiempo. Los cambios políticos, el progreso económico y las herencias cambiaron los escenarios de actuación y les obligaron a reinventarse para mantener el imperio familiar. Este trabajo se ha centrado en el análisis de la evolución de dos de las sagas familiares más importantes de la historia empresarial de Galicia antes de la Guerra civil. Sus estrategias a lo largo del tiempo nos permiten analizar los diferentes caminos que condujeron a consolidar cada imperio familiar y entender las peculiares formas de hacer negocios en la España de la Restauración.[Abstract] The business history in each country has been led largely by entrepreneurial sagas that, accompanied also by luck, were able to find out business oportunities, to risk and to invest during generations. Obviously, everyone was not successful in the long run. Political changes, economic progress and inheritances changed the scenes and forced to reinvent themselves in order to maintain the family empire. The aim of this paper is to analyze the evolution of two of the most important entrepreneurial dynasties in the business history of Galicia before the Civil War. Their strategies in the long run allow to analyze the different paths that led to consolidate each family empire and to understand the peculiar ways of negotiating in Spain during monarchic Restoration