Assessing and Explaining the Relative Efficiency of Local Government: Evidence for Portuguese Municipalities

In this paper we measure the relative efficiency of Portuguese local municipalities in a non-parametric framework approach using Data Envelopment Analysis. As an output measure we compute a composite local government output indicator of municipal performance. This allows assessing the extent of municipal spending that seems to be “wasted” relative to the “best-practice” frontier. Our results suggest that most municipalities could achieve, on average, the same level of output using fewer resources, improving performance without necessarily increasing municipal spending. Inefficiency scores are afterwards explained by means of a Tobit analysis with a set of relevant explanatory variables playing the role of non-discretionary inputs..local government; expenditure efficiency; technical efficiency; DEA; Tobit models.

Assessing Hospital Efficiency: Non-parametric Evidence for Portugal

We compute DEA efficiency scores and Malmquist indexes for a panel data set comprising 68 Portuguese public hospitals belonging to the National Health System (NHS) in the period 2000-2005, when several units started being run in an entrepreneurial framework. With data on hospital services’ and resource quantities we construct an output distance function, we assess by how much can output quantities be proportionally expanded without changing input quantities Our results show that, on average, the NHS hospital sector revealed positive but small productivity growth between 2000 and 2004. The mean TFP indices vary between 0.917 and 1.109, implying some differences in the Malmquist indices across specifications. Furthermore, there are significant fluctuations among NHS hospitals in terms of individual efficiency scores from one year to the other.Public hospitals; Data Envelopment Analysis; Malmquist indices; Portugal.

Introduction of non-topological costs in syntactic analyses: the case of Gulbenkian estate

Space syntax is a set of theories and techniques for analysing urban settlements and buildings. Focused on the study of the configuration of convex spaces, space syntax is based on the concept of topological depth, that is, in the number of steps to go from some space (or axial line) to every other space in a spatial complex. Typically, non-topological costs like stairs, ramps, accentuated slopes or walls are not considered in space syntax analyses, or are incorporated in an insufficient fashion, namely, with the arbitrary introduction of axial lines in order to increase depth. This article proposes an innovative method to deal with these costs that uses logic programming with Prolog language. In this way, it is possible to better understand the relative segregation of the Gulbenkian estate within its urban environment, the city of Odivelas near Lisbon (Portugal), noting that it was the largest public housing estate built within the scope of the resettlement plan for those displaced by the great floods of November 25-26, 1967, established by the Ministry of Public Works and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the late 1960s.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of an ERP with CI/CD application, Authentication and System Auditing

Developing and maintaining software like ERPs can be challenging because of the complexity and the amount of data that these systems require maintaining. Many of the software programs can grow with weak structure, which lead to great effort to maintain, and with more probability to error. This project proposes that a development cycle that incorporates DevOps can have major bene ts, by not only removing some hassle the programmers and systems admins have with testing and deploying the system, but can also give a early feedback if the changes made into the application brings problems to the systems. The design of a CI/CD pipeline and audit logs, and the implementation in an ERP development helped get more feedback and cause of root problems, which lead to more confidence in the developers to make changes, and to escalate more quickly since the deployment is automatized.Desenvolver "software" como os ERPs podem ser difícil de manter devido à complexidade e a quantidade de dados envolvida nestes sistemas. Isto leva a que muitos destes "softwares" cresçam com uma estrutura de código fraca, o que leva a um esforço adicional para manter, e com maior probabilidade para erros. Este projeto propõe que a incorporação do conceito de DevOps no ciclo de desenvolvimento traz muitas vantagens, não só a remover algum trabalho dos programadores e dos administradores de sistemas ao ser mais fácil testar o sistema e fazer deploy do mesmo, mas também fornece uma forma de feedback mais rápida para eventuais erros. O "design" de uma pipeline CI/CD e logs para auditoria do sistema, e a respetiva implementação destes conceitos no desenvolvimento consegue dar mais feedback a problemas, o que leva a uma maior confiança dos programadores para fazer alterações, e conseguir escalar a solução mais rapidamente visto que a implantação é automatizada

A syntactic analysis of the Portela Urbanization using prolog

Portela is a paradigmatic modern housing complex located at the vicinity of Lisbon. Developed since the late 1960s, it combines several syntactic schemes, namely, concentric towers, asymmetric blocks and primary open-closed cells typically distributed along a ring-shaped road. It is also structured by a central space with a mall and other facilities. In this paper we introduce Prolog, a Logic Programming language used in Artificial Intelligence, to describe the internal logic of Portela Urbanization. Firstly, we explain how the syntactic schemes present in Portela can be generated in a recursive way using Prolog and following an approach like the ideographic language introduced by Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson in their seminal book The Social Logic of Space (1984). Secondly, we performed a settlement (alpha) analysis of Portela by computing connectivity, control, depth, integration and other syntactic measures using Prolog predicates. These two complementary approaches proved to be useful to understand the ideal of the Modern city as far as the Portela complex is concerned. And show how Logic Programming is a useful tool to describe the patterns of discrete systems as social knowables due to its declarative nature. In fact, a Prolog program represents a certain amount of knowledge, namely, of an urban settlement (or building), which is used to answer queries about the social and economic consequences of some spatial design.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Case study: a Jerónimo Martins snapshot

Este estudo tem como objectivo dar a conhecer o Grupo Jerónimo Martins, que é actualmente a empresa líder no sector da distribuição e cujas insígnias têm uma posição de liderança nos segmentos retalhista e grossista no mercado português, e no segmento de hard discount na Polónia, o outro país onde actualmente se encontra estabelecida a empresa. De modo a cumprir essa finalidade e de que forma ela se relaciona com a realidade presente, é realizada uma breve contextualização sobre a conjuntura económica sobre os países e sectores onde a Jerónimo Martins está inserida, passando em seguida para uma descrição sobre a empresa bem como uma análise à sua situação financeira e às suas perspectivas futuras tendo em conta o conjunto de decisões que é tomado pela sua administração com vista ao crescimento e desenvolvimento sustentáveis dos seus negócios. A conclusão do estudo centra-se exclusivamente na recomendação sobre a acção da empresa de acordo os devidos critérios de avaliação do preço-alvo da mesma, ao mesmo tempo que tal valor é confrontado com os resultados obtidos por outras entidades especializadas na avaliação de títulos financeiros de forma a conseguir apurar se a conclusão obtida está dentro de um intervalo de valores considerados verosímeis para a situação em causa e para comparar recomendações de modo a que seja possível a um investidor obter um conjunto mais alargado de recomendações que apontam para uma postura específica face à acção da Jerónimo Martins em uma determinada data.This case study has the objective to provide an insight regarding Jerónimo Martins Group, which is the leader in the distribution sector and whose banners hold the lead position in the Portuguese Retail and Wholesale market segments, as well as the hard discount one in Poland, which is the only other country where the company is established. In order to do so and to relate it toward the present, it begins with a small contextualization over the economic conjuncture concerning both countries and their respective sectors where Jerónimo Martins operates, followed by its thorough description and a detailed financial status analysis. Finally it is laid out what are the Group‟s future prospects bearing in mind the set of managerial decisions taken in order to keep the healthy business growth and development. This study concludes by issuing a recommendation over the company‟s stock price according to some suitable valuation methods and by making a comparison between the result achieved and a few other recommendations from other financial entities to see whether the recommendation made is somewhat in line with the other ones and in order for a given investor to get a larger set of opinions pointing out a certain stance regarding Jerónimo Martins stock and its price at a given date

Online sales and business model innovation in art markets: a case study

Every year online sales represent a higher percentage of the sales total in nearly all sectors of the economy, and the art markets are no exception. However, there are few empirical studies showing how online sales and digital technologies are transforming the art markets at a micro-level. This study is based on the detailed examination of the financial performance of one of the two largest Portuguese auction houses, Cabral Moncada Leilões (CML), over a period of twelve years (2007-2018), complemented with interviews with its top-managers. It analyses a set of financial indicators (e.g., EBIT, ROA, EQUITY, sales volume, net results, etc.), along with some markers that are specific to the auction sector (e.g., average lot value, number of auctions per year, etc.). From this analysis it is possible to conclude that the deterioration of this company's financial performance was the driving force that led it to explore the potential of digital economy. In the process, its business model changed dramatically, leading the company to a different market position and to the enlargement of its national and international customer base.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessing Hospital Efficiency: Non-parametric Evidence for Portugal

We compute DEA efficiency scores and Malmquist indexes for a panel data set comprising 68 Portuguese public hospitals belonging to the National Health System (NHS) in the period 2000-2005, when several units started being run in an entrepreneurial framework. With data on hospital services' and resource quantities we construct an output distance function, we assess by how much can output quantities be proportionally expanded without changing input quantities Our results show that, on average, the NHS hospital sector revealed positive but small productivity growth between 2000 and 2004. The mean TFP indices vary between 0.917 and 1.109, implying some differences in the Malmquist indices across specifications. Furthermore, there are significant fluctuations among NHS hospitals in terms of individual efficiency scores from one year to the other

Assessing and Explaining the Relative Efficiency of Local Government: Evidence for Portuguese Municipalities

In this paper we measure the relative efficiency of Portuguese local municipalities in a non-parametric framework approach using Data Envelopment Analysis. As an output measure we compute a composite local government output indicator of municipal performance. This allows assessing the extent of municipal spending that seems to be "wasted" relative to the "best-practice" frontier. Our results suggest that most municipalities could achieve, on average, the same level of output using fewer resources, improving performance without necessarily increasing municipal spending. Inefficiency scores are afterwards explained by means of a Tobit analysis with a set of relevant explanatory variables playing the role of non-discretionary inputs