To date, entrepreneurship research has rarely focused on cooperatives. Recent research has suggested there is a positive association between cooperatives and women’s entrepreneurial activity based on the assumption that this model is especially suitable for women’s expectations and is favourable to their economic entrepreneurial development. However, few studies have empirically tested these propositions. This research, which analysed data from 264 Spanish cooperatives, confirms these findings. A mixed-methods approach was used. In the first stage, a Delphi study was run with 11 cooperative entrepreneurship experts to ask what factors may be decisive for women preferring a cooperative model. In the second stage, the factors derived from the Delphi study were used in a survey targeting female cooperative associates. The findings confirmed that female cooperative owners perceived this business model to be aligned with their values and best fit their work and lifestyle. This research contributes to the existing social entrepreneurship literature by providing empirical evidence from the Spanish context that highlights the role of women in cooperatives. The findings also emphasize the need for responsive policies and programmes that promote the cooperative model since it promotes female employment and women’s entrepreneurial activity even in periods of economic austerity.

The special alignment of the principles and effects of the social economy (SE) with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) renders this area especially suitable for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of these goals, favoring a paradigm shift towards a new economic system that reconciles growth and sustainability. In this context, governments and institutions can moderate or accelerate this path, with the implementation of a series of policies to promote and drive the social economy. In Spain, responsibility for the design and implementation of such policies is transferred to sub-central governments, known as autonomous communities. Galicia is the first Spanish autonomous community to have its own Act on SE. This article explains the promotion strategy established in this region, which has resulted in an ecosystem favorable to the development and consolidation of the Galician SE, based on a combination of public policies with synergistic effects. The outcome of this ecosystem could have a significant impact on the achievement of several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the promotion of equal opportunities (SDG 5), the promotion of decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), and the reduction of inequalities (SDG 10).

El 11 de marzo de 2020, la OMS declara que la covid-19 se considera una pandemia, lo que tiene efectos económicos a nivel global. En España, la primera respuesta fue declarar el estado de alarma para la gestión de la crisis sanitaria el 14 de marzo, como instrumento para limitar la movilidad de la población y, de esta forma, evitar su avance. Así, la economía española estuvo prácticamente paralizada en la primera etapa, siendo la desescalada desigual entre sectores. Esto provocó una importante crisis económica con efectos sobre el empleo.El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es contrastar dos hipótesis. La primera es analizar si la destrucción de empleo es menor en las empresas de la Economía Social que en las empresas de la economía capitalista. La segunda hipótesis es si el diferente impacto de esta crisis a nivel sectorial también se hace patente entre las empresas de la Economía Social.Para alcanzar estos objetivos analizamos la variación interanual del empleo para el conjunto de empresas, sociedades cooperativas y laborales inscritas en la Seguridad Social, a nivel sectorial en el segundo trimestre del año 2020 (cuando hubo niveles distintos de paralización de la actividad económica por sectores), y aplicamos el análisis shift-share para estudiar las diferencias sectoriales que se han presentado por el impacto de la crisis. Observamos un comportamiento más resistente del empleo en las cooperativas españolas y detectamos los impactos diferenciales de la crisis a nivel sectorial.

In recent years, from different institutional levels, and especially within the European Union (EU), there have been recurrent pronouncements regarding the need to accept Social Economy (SE) as a company distinguishing factor, which prioritizes a series of results other than the economic and financial ones. These statements have been accompanied by a recommendation to include this area of the economy in Member States legislation and government policies. At the same time, the recent commitment of the United Nations to the 2030 Agenda, embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has drawn attention to this area, by aligning the principles and values governing entities. The Galician Autonomous Community was the first to have its own rules on SE. Based on Community and national references, Galicia has had its own legislation in this field since 2016. On the basis of the study of the Autonomous Community Regulation, it should be noted that the special emphasis on two expected results of the regulated institutional framework emerges in a differentiated way: the assignment to the territory and the development of employment. This has a major influence on two objectives common to the SE and the SDGs: the balanced distribution of wealth and the development of quality employment. It also provides solutions to some of the most pressing problems in the complex Galician socio-demographic context. In this paper we study the Galician case as an example of good practices for the promotion and consolidation of the SE fabric, which allows us to face different kind of challenges based on the combination of economic activity and sustainability.

This study aims to investigate the impact of the banking sector on economic growth and commodity prices. Through panel data analysis, the research explores the relationship between the banking sector and economic growth in Spain, France, and Romania from 2000 to 2020. The findings reveal a positive correlation between the strength of the banking sector and economic growth across these nations, underscoring its pivotal role in fostering economic expansion and subsequently improving commodity prices. Additionally, this study evaluates various regulatory measures crucial ensuring the banking sector’s sustainability and preventing financial crises, including credit risk management, lending policies, liquidity constraints, and international financing and investment strategies. By analyzing the interplay between regulatory measures and banking sector performance, incorporating variables such as non-performing loans, household debt, liquid liabilities, government consumption expenditure, foreign investments, and trade openness, this research provides policymakers with valuable insights to formulate effective strategies for promoting economic stability and ensuring the sustainability and growth of the banking sector.

Introduccion; evolucion ; indices de competitividad; modelos econometricos de exportacion manufacturera ; conclusiones ; referencias bibliograficas ; anexo. Una versión actualizada de este documento está disponible gratuitamente en la serie de documentos "Economic Development" de la Asociación Euroamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo Económico, con el número 49. http://www.usc.es/economet/aea.htm An updated version of this paper is downloadable free in the series "Economic Development" edited by the Euro-American Association of Economic Development Studies, with the number 49. http://www.usc.es/economet/eaa.htm