The paper starts by summarising the evidence found in international studies, using it as a framework for the monographic study of foreign companies in Madrid as a main vector of entrance to the city of global services. The developed exploratory analysis of differences in the firms' competitiveness confirms the positive effect of the international connection, in relation to an achievement of economies of overview, on the side of foreign companies and/or with greater export propensity. On the contrary, statistically, the only relation between a location in the central city and a greater efficiency is observed in the case of national companies of professional services orientated towards the local market.

The economic dynamism and the intense territorial transformation of Madrid over the last decade are explained in the light of the processes of globalisation. As suggested by some authors, it seems that Madrid, like the rest of big cities, recovers protagonism as an economic motor and political actor in the global era. In the case of Madrid, more than of recovery we ought to speak of a new status, that for many would be more in agreement with the economic, political, and cultural weight within the Spanish state, and with an historical capacity of influence in the whole Latin American continent.

But, beyond political wishes, this paper claims the opportunity to review the evidence obtained in international comparative studies and the need for a monographic study of the command functions in the city of Madrid, as those elaborated in many other metropolis of the world. Thus, the characterization of foreign companies, as the main entrance vector of the global services in the city, has been presented as a result of a first stage of our research.

Spanish Council for Scientific Research - Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography
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Simón Sánchez Moral

10/06/2008

Simón Sánchez Moral

research

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Urban economy

Competitiveness