Human capital and financial capital in the Atlantic Space from America to Catalonia, 1829-1855

Abstract

Spanish emigration to America during the last two decades of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century gave rise to the figure of the 'indiano' or 'americano' in Spain¿those men who returned to the peninsula with huge fortunes. In this article, we look at the roles played by indianos in Catalonia's financial development. Our research indicates that returnees not only made important investments in the Catalan economy; they exerted an impact that, although harder to quantify, was equally significant: the deployment of their human capital, constituted by extensive international commercial and financial expertise and participation in social and business networks, evidenced in multiple alliances and businesses set up in the peninsula. Centered on the financial sector, the article shows that indianos were thus key players in the modernization of Catalan finances through the first half of the nineteenth century.