The non-financial private firms’ sector of Spain in 2011 – 2017: the financial fragility hypothesis-based analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper analyzes the financial relations of non-financial private sector firms in Spain based on the financial instability hypothesis developed by Hyman Philip Minsky. We suppose that in the private sector of the Spanish economy after the 2008–2013 crisis there was an increase in the number of firms characterized by the hedge regime of financing. We test this hypothesis using the 2011–2017 data for 163 Spanish private non-financial companies from Thomson Reuters. Three indices were constructed according to three methodologies that distinguish firms as hedge, speculative and Ponzi, in order to determine the degree of financial fragility of the private sector of the Spanish economy. The results showed that the economy of Spain in 2011–2017 was in the process of escaping from financial fragility. This occurred despite austerity policies. Such policies diminish economic activity, in general, and the flow of business profits in particular. It makes it difficult to escape from a fragile financial position. Nevertheless, in the case of Spain, the negative consequences of austerity policies were offset by other government measures, tourism and export diversification.