Intergovernmental grant rules, the "golden rule" of public finance and local expenditures

The Stability and Growth Pact and the process of fiscal consolidation in several European countries have enhanced the role of fiscal rules at sub-national level. This paper analyzes the combined effect of a rule to allocate capital and current block grants to local governments and the “golden rule” of public finance (surplus of current balance). We argue that the two fiscal rules introduce significant rigidities and distortions in local governments’ expenditures structure since these mimic the structure of revenues. This effect is particularly relevant in municipalities that are more dependent of intergovernmental grants, mainly rural. On the other hand, urban municipalities with greater tax revenues (current revenues) are constrained in their ability to make capital investments because they receive per capita capital grants below what economies of scale would suggest. An empirical analysis of Portuguese local governments shows that it is no longer the median voter, but fiscal rules, that command the broad pattern of expenditure (current versus capital) at a local level. This paper is a contribution to the literature on the perverse effects of fiscal rules.Intergovernmental block grants; Fiscal Rules; Local Government Expenditure; “Golden Rule”

Citizens’ Freedom to Choose Representatives: Ballot Structure, Proportionality and “Fragmented” Parliaments

The analysis of the political consequences of electoral laws has emphasized how individual characteristics of the electoral system (electoral formulas, district magnitude, ballot structure) affect the degree of parliament “fragmentation” and proportionality. This paper argues that the personal attributes of representatives are also an important consequence of electoral laws, and that they are in part determined by citizens’ freedom to choose representatives. We clarify this concept and develop an index of citizens’ freedom to choose members of parliament as a function of the ballot structure, district size and electoral formulae. Using data from twenty nine countries, we find that neither proportionality nor the effective number of parties is significantly affected by voters’ freedom of choice. This result has important normative implications for electoral reform.Ballot structure; Electoral index; Freedom to choose; Personal vote.

Motion-induced sound level control for socially-aware robot navigation

With the growing presence of robots in human populated environments, it becomes necessary to render the relation between robots and humans natural, rather than invasive. For that purpose, robots need to make sure the acoustic noise induced by their motion does not disturb people that are in the same environment. This dissertation proposes a method that allows a robot to learn how to control the amount of noise it produces, taking into account the environmental context and the robot’s mechanical characteristics. The robot performs its task while adapting its speed, so it produces less acoustic noise than the environment’s, and thus, not disturbing nearby people. Before the robot can execute a task in a given environment, it needs to learn how much noise it induces while moving at different speeds on that environment. For that, a microphone was installed on a wheeled robot to gather information about it’s acoustic noise. To validate the proposed solution, tests in different environments with different background sounds were performed. After that, a PIR sensor was installed on the robot to verify the ability of the robot to use the motion controller when someone enters the sensor’s field of vision. This second test demonstrated the possibility of using the proposed solution in another systems.Com a crescente presença dos robôs no espaço ocupado pelos seres humanos, é necessário que a relação entre robôs e humans seja natural e não invasiva. Para alcançar este objectivo, é preciso que os robôs tenham formas de assegurar que o ruído causado pelos seus movimentos não incomodam as pessoas inseridas no meio envolvente. Esta dissertação propôe uma solução que permite que um robô aprenda a controlar a quantidade de ruído que produz, tendo em conta as suas caracteristicas e o meio ambiente onde é colocado. O robô concretiza as suas tarefas adaptando a sua velocidade de forma a produzir menos ruído que o presente no meio ambiente e, assim, não incomodar as pessoas. Para que o robô possa executar alguma tarefa num determinado ambiente, é necessário aprender a quantidade de ruído que faz ao movimentar-se a diferentes velocidades nesse ambiente. Para tal, um microfone foi instalado num robô com rodas para obter informação sobre a sua acústica. Para validar a solução proposta, foram realizados testes, com sucesso, em diferentes ambientes com diferentes ruídos de fundo. Posteriormente, foi instalado no robô um sensor PIR para analizar a capacidade do robô executar o controlador de velocidade quando alguém entra no campo de visão do sensor. Este segundo teste demonstrou a possibilidade de incluir a solução proposta em outros sistemas

CAPE VERDE IN WEST AFRICA REGION: TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION

The West African region has immeasurable natural resources and a market of more than 300 million consumers, contributing directly to the dynamics of the global economy. This article aims to identify the importance of this region in the development of Cape Verde, an economically dependent country that has given primacy to its foreign policy to bet on political and economic diplomacy. This investigation was a literature review, complemented through an interpretative analysis, in which the results obtained may allow to consider that the archipelago of Cape Verde needs to delineate a new paradigm of regional integration, vying for the West African geo-economics’ space and using as a platform to provide services to other ECOWAS countries, so that the gains may also revert to the strengthening of cooperation with the African continent.A região da África Ocidental dispõe de inúmeros recursos naturais e conta com um mercado de mais de 300 milhões de consumidores, contribuindo directamente na dinâmica da economia global. O presente artigo visa identificar a importância exercida por esta região no desenvolvimento de Cabo Verde, país economicamente dependente que tem priorizado na sua política externa a aposta na diplomacia política e económica. Nesta investigação procedeu-se a uma revisão de literatura que é complementada por uma análise interpretativa, na qual os resultados obtidos permitem considerar que o arquipélago de Cabo Verde precisa delinear um novo paradigma de integração regional, disputando o espaço geoeconómico da África Ocidental e servindo-se como plataforma de prestação de serviços aos demais países da CEDEAO, de modo a que os ganhos possam reverter também para o reforço de cooperação com o continente africano

How does educational background diversity influence team's purpose in the portuguese management consulting sector

O presente estudo expõe a vivência do propósito em equipas de consultoria, através da lente de consultores de gestão em Portugal. Adotando uma abordagem interpretativa, indutiva e qualitativa, por meio de entrevistas com membros de consultoras de grande renome, o presente ensaio examina a compreensão dos participantes sobre a formulação, desenvolvimento e vivência de um propósito de equipa. A questão de investigação "How does educational background diversity influence team's purpose in the Portuguese management consulting sector?" possibilitou a procura de dimensões que influenciam os participantes no fenómeno em causa. Os resultados demonstram que a definição mista do propósito e a homogeneização dos membros da equipa levam a que os mesmo não percecionem um impacto da diversidade de experiência educacional no propósito da equipa. O estudo contribui então para o desenvolvimento da compreensão do impacto da diversidade de formação educacional num dos traços de sucesso das equipas, enriquecendo as áreas científicas relacionadas com o estudo da diversidade, do funcionamento das equipas e com o setor de consultoria de gestão.The present study presents insights into the experience of management consultants of team's purpose in Portugal. Adopting an interpretive, inductive and qualitative approach, using interviews from members of highly renown consulting firms, the article examines the participants' understanding of the formation, development and experience of a team purpose. The research question "How does educational background diversity influence team's purpose in the Portuguese management consulting sector?" enabled the search for dimensions that influence participants' experience. The results demonstrate that, in the participants' perception, diversity of educational background does not impact team's purpose due to a mixed definition of the purpose and the homogenisation of the team members. The study contributes to the development of the understanding of the impact of diversity on one of the teams' successful traits, enriching the research fields of diversity, teams and management consulting

Nuno Ramos: citação, descontinuidade, devir

O artigo investiga a produção do artista brasileiro Nuno Ramos a partir de chaves conceituais que permitem um trânsito por suas obras a partir da perspectiva de um limite da comunicação e da linguagem

Intergovernmentalgrantrules, the "golden rule" of public finance and local expenditures

The Stability and Growth Pact and the process of fiscal consolidation in several European countries have enhanced the role of fiscal rules at sub-national level. This paper analyzes the combined effect of a rule to allocate capital and current block grants to local governments and the "golden rule" of public finance (surplus of current balance). We argue that the two fiscal rules introduce significant rigidities and distortions in local governments' expenditures structure since these mimic the structure of revenues. This effect is particularly relevant in municipalities that are more dependent of intergovernmental grants, mainly rural. On the other hand, urban municipalities with greater tax revenues (current revenues) are constrained in their ability to make capital investments because they receive per capita capital grants below what economies of scale would suggest. An empirical analysis of Portuguese local governments shows that it is no longer the median voter, but fiscal rules, that command the broad pattern of expenditure (current versus capital) at a local level. This paper is a contribution to the literature on the perverse effects of fiscal rules

Citizens' Freedom to Choose Representatives: Ballot Structure, Proportionality and "Fragmented" Parliaments

The analysis of the political consequences of electoral laws has emphasized how individual characteristics of the electoral system (electoral formulas, district magnitude, ballot structure) affect the degree of parliament "fragmentation" and proportionality. This paper argues that the personal attributes of representatives are also an important consequence of electoral laws, and that they are in part determined by citizens' freedom to choose representatives. We clarify this concept and develop an index of citizens' freedom to choose members of parliament as a function of the ballot structure, district size and electoral formulae. Using data from twenty nine countries, we find that neither proportionality nor the effective number of parties is significantly affected by voters' freedom of choice. This result has important normative implications for electoral reform

Citizensʼ freedom to choose representatives : ballot structure, proportionality and 'fragmented' parliaments

Analysis of the political consequences of electoral laws has emphasized how individual characteristics of the electoral system (electoral formulas, district magnitude, ballot structure) affect the degree of parliament ‘‘fragmentation’’ and proportionality. This paper argues that the personal attributes of representatives are also an important consequence of electoral laws, and that they are in part determined by citizens’ freedom to choose representatives. We clarify this concept and develop an index of citizens’ freedom to choose members of parliament as a function of the ballot structure, district magnitude and electoral formulas. Using data from 26 countries, we find that neither proportionality nor the effective number of parties is significantly affected by voters’ freedom of choice. This result has important normative implications for electoral reform.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A santidade nas hagiografias de Venâncius Fortunatus

Optamos por fazer uma rápida apresentação sobre a autenticidade das hagiografias de Venâncio Fortunato. Em seguida, iniciamos um debate sobre o conceito de santidade e de santo medieval. Após essa discussão, que esse autor trabalhou com dois modelos principais de santidade: o acéticomonástico e o episcopal. O primeiro modelo está presente nas hagiografias dedicadas a Paterno e a Radegunda. Nestas não faltam descrições desta opção de vida: a busca da retirada do mundo, os martírios, os milagres e as tentações relacionados com este tipo de escolha. Contudo, suas hagiografias apresentam, na maioria das vezes, o modelo de santidade episcopal. Neste modelo, a santidade aparece como condição para se tornar bispo, e mais, a virtude milagrosa é nitidamente uma característica de tais cargos.We chose to do a quick presentation about the authenticity of hagiographies of Venantius Fortunatus. Then began a debate on the concept of holiness and medieval saint. After this discussion, which this author worked with two main models of holiness: the acetic-monastic and episcopal. The first model is present in hagiographies devoted to Patern and Radegund. In these descriptions abound this lifestyle choice: the pursuit of withdrawal from the world, the martyrdom, miracles and temptations related to this kind of choice. However, their hagiographies have, in most cases, the model of episcopal sanctity. In this model, the sanctity appears as a condition for becoming a bishop, and more, the miraculous virtue is clearly a feature of such positions