This paper looks at the divergent economic trajectories of Barcelona and Madrid since Spain's transition to democracy. It highlights how Barcelona, the city that was better positioned four decades ago to emerge as the main Spanish economic hub, has lost out to Madrid. We argue that the contrasting trajectories of the two cities have less to do with the pull of Madrid as the capital of Spain, with the development of new infrastructure in the country, or with agglomeration economies, and more with institutional factors. A growing societal divide in Barcelona along economic, social, and identity lines has led to a greater breakdown of trust and to the development of strong groups with limited capacity to bridge with one another than in Madrid. This has entailed the emergence of negative externalities that have limited the economic potential for growth in Barcelona and facilitated the rise of Madrid as the main economic hub within Spain.

中文翻译：

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经济命运的逆转：制度和巴塞罗那和马德里作为经济中心的不断变化的优势

本文着眼于西班牙向民主过渡以来巴塞罗那和马德里不同的经济轨迹。它突显了巴塞罗那这个四年前处于更好地位并成为西班牙主要经济中心的城市，已经输给了马德里。我们认为，这两个城市的对比轨迹与马德里作为西班牙首都的吸引力、该国新基础设施的发展或集聚经济的关系不大，而更多地与制度因素有关。巴塞罗那在经济、社会和身份方面的社会分歧日益扩大，导致信任更加破裂，并导致与马德里相比，彼此之间建立桥梁的能力有限的强大团体的发展。