Empirical Data on Sociedades Laborales, 1999–2013

Abstract

We observe a shift in legal form from joint stock SLs (SALs) to limited liability SLs (SLLs) over time with the overall number of SLs rising by 18% from 9,620 firms in 1999 to 11,322 in 2013. During the same period, though, the number of workers employed in SLs declined by 16%—from 75,606 workers to 63,472. Reflecting the shift to the smaller form of corporation, nevertheless, both population (from 5,060 to 9,984) and employment (from 20,808 to 47,727) of SLLs doubled in the same interval. However, these official employment figures do not capture independent workers which are estimated to account for between 15 and 25% of overall employment. This decrease was mainly due to the financial crisis; the largest loss occurred in the construction sector.

With the annual average capitalisation by formerly unemployed in the Basque Country as high as EUR 16,775 and the average of capitalisation in firms with investing partners being comparably low, we can conclude that insufficient capital contribution of formerly unemployed would not be a determining factor for the involvement of investing partners.