Economía política y manufacturas: una perspectiva regional

espanolEl estudio del sector manufacturero espanol del siglo xviii goza de amplia cobertura historiografica: a los analisis regionales, sectoriales y empresariales, se han sumado los referidos al «legado industrial» del Antiguo Regimen. Por lo mismo, en este articulo se ha optado por una nueva aproximacion: valorar la eficacia de las tesis industrialistas formuladas desde la economia politica, con su traslacion a las politicas economicas, y analizar el alcance de las medidas de fomento del sector auspiciadas por instituciones regionales o forales –sociedades economicas, academias de agricultura y artes, consulados, juntas de comercio…–.Pese a la proliferacion de iniciativas empresariales o a la disponibilidad de capitales, seran contados los sectores –algodon, harineria, papel…– que aporten un modelo tecnico y organizativo viable. Y ello por cuanto a las restricciones institucionales se anadirian otras limitaciones de peor arreglo: baja productividad agraria, escaso desarrollo urbano o debil integracion del mercado, entre otras. Englishxviiith Spanish industrial manufacturing has been duly covered by historiography: besides regional, sectorial and corporate analyses we can also count on studies centered upon the «industrial legacy» of the Ancien Regime. That is the very reason why this article has been tackled from a new perspective, based not only on assessing the degree of efficiency of theses formulated from the angle of political economics but on analysing the depth reached by regional initiatives for development springing from economic societies, farming and art academias, consulates, trading corporations, among others.Despite the high number of corporate initiatives and the availability of capital, there were very few sectors (cotton, flour, paper manufacturing) showing a truly viable technical and organizational model. Institutional restrictions and social resistance added to other limitations with no easy solution: low productivity rate, poor urban development or weak market integration, among others.