December
17, 2004
Denitsa
Tsankova ’05 Researches Spain’s High-Tech Growth
Photo
by: Todd M. LeMieux
Denitsa Tsankova ’05 |
By Ember Oparowski ’07
Economics major Denitsa Tsankova ’05 spent this past summer
in Madrid “library hopping” on a quest for information
that would support her senior thesis. Tsankova is analyzing the
impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Spain’s explosive
growth in the technology sector since 1985, the year the country
joined the European Union (EU).
Tsankova was among the first group of Global Studies Summer Fellows (GSSF),
a new program that provides financial support for students to do research abroad.
She traveled to Spain to research the influence of FDI on “spill-over
results,” particularly in the high-tech industry.
“Denitsa is working on a very hot important question, namely whether and
under what conditions foreign direct investment leads to technology transfer
and spillovers in the host country and can help it grow faster,” said Tsankova’s
faculty adviser Eva Paus, professor of economics and director of the Center for
Global Initiatives. “Since just about any latecomer in the development
process is hoping to be able to use FDI to develop further, Denitsa’s findings
will be of great interest.”
With help from a professor in Barcelona, a contact of Jens Christiansen, professor
and chair of economics, and Spanish economist and author Carlos Fernandez-Otheo,
Tsankova eventually gained access to the Spanish National Library, the Ministry
of the Economy, and the Bank of Spain’s library. Tsankova emphasized
the importance of having well-known Spanish contacts because without them it
would have been impossible to conduct her research. “The research process
is a learning experience in itself, and despite the fact that one meets obstacles
along the way, it is very rewarding at the end when you realize how much you
have worked to get what you needed,” Tsankova said.
The challenge of getting into these libraries was only a precursor to the problems
Tsankova found with the FDI data. The Bank of Spain’s FDI records were
inflated and not detailed. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Economy changed the
way it recorded information between 1986 and 1990 because of foreign participation,
and only after 1993 was the ministry’s information very well organized
and detailed. Because of these discrepancies in data, Tsankova is now building
a theoretical framework to analyze the data separately and isn’t sure
if she can combine these sources with any level of accuracy.
Another peculiarity Tsankova, a Bulgarian national, encountered was with Spanish
culture itself. “The whole myth about the Spanish siesta is true. People
sleep or take long lunches between two and five,” Tsankova said. “However,
I thought that the siestas were cute and peculiar, although they prevented
me from doing work in the afternoon.” She also found that many of her
contacts, including Fernandez-Otheo and Marta Muñoz, one of Tsankova’s
mentors, took a monthlong vacation in the summer and were unavailable to answer
her questions.
Although the odds were against her, Tsankova’s persistence prevailed. “My
interest in FDI has been driven by my desire to help my country,” said
Tsankova. Bulgaria’s accession into the EU is slated for 2007. Tsankova
hopes that when Bulgaria joins the EU, her native country’s economy will
grow as readily as the economies of Spain and Ireland did after they became
EU members. Tsankova noted that a growing economy would improve Bulgaria’s
standard of living. “There is a lot of desperation in Bulgaria,” Tsankova
said. “On the micro level, the government is following a strict fiscal
discipline that yields no increase in personal income and high levels of unemployment.”
“Denitsa is an excellent student in economics, and she has a very personal
interest in the question as well, since she is originally from Bulgaria, a country
that hopes to join the EU in the next round of accession talks,” Paus said. “Denitsa
was the only student among the award winners of last summer’s GSSF who
had to conduct her research not in English, but in Spanish. Since Spanish is
her third language, that is no small feat.”
While Tsankova’s extensive economic research exposed her to rare primary
documents and the subtleties of international protocol, she has decided not
to pursue a career in economics. She hopes to go to graduate school to study
either international development or international relations and someday work
in Bulgaria’s government.
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