This article analyses the relationship between the uses of Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0), the value generation and firm results. Based on a sample of 1,525 Spanish industrial firms for 2014, the uses of four basic I4.0 technologies are identified: 1) computer-aided industrial design (CAD); 2) robotics; 3) flexible production systems; and 4) the activity’s numerical control machinery and software, an additional indicator is constructed and the statistical association with the value generation and firm results are studied. The research has obtained three main results. First of all, it is worth noting its incipience. 72.5% of Spanish industrial firms either do not use or use very moderately the I4.0 technologies. Despite of this and secondly, it should be noted that the uses of these technologies are associated with a value generating process in industrial firms which is more intensive in R&D and human capital, more innovative, more digital and more sustainable. And, thirdly, the research also concludes that firms with more intensive uses of I4.0 technologies have better results in terms of sales, value added, exports and gross operating margin. Productivity and employment results are especially relevant. I4.0 intensive industrial firms are 30% more efficient than firms that do not use these technologies. They are also able to take on a much larger number of employees (twice the industrial average) and to pay them much better (12.4% above the industrial average). Finally, the article also discusses the role that I4.0 could play as a new general purpose technology.

The Spanish economy is more productive but employment rates have not returned to levels prior to the recession. Therefore, the main challenge is reducing unemployment and temporary employment, creating quality, stable and productive jobs that help reduce inequality, as well as resuming the path of convergence with more advanced economies. The model of flexicurity is defined as a strategy to modernize the labour market through two paths that converge: flexibility (for both business and workers, to respond to the needs of both) and safety (for workers who must be able to develop their careers, expand their skills and receive support from social security systems during periods of inactivity). However, this model of Danish flexicurity cannot be implemented directly to each Member State or region of the European Union, but rather it must be adapted to each context with an adequate combination of instruments that respond in our region to the debate between different social and political sensitivities. The goal is not increasing precariousness through flexibility, but rather flexible specialization.

The Economic Monetary Union project was founded with the expectation that a greater level of macroeconomic stability would help to improve living conditions for the European population, especially in countries with lower incomes. Labour productivity is one of the main indicators of an economy's international competitiveness, and is also a measure of a society's capacity to improve its wellbeing. Analysis of the project's evolution demonstrates how possibilities for convergence in productivity are conditioned by the economic growth model in place, and also by the strategy used in response to the financial crisis.