DETERMINANTS OF EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION AND SOPHISTICATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This paper studies the political and economic factors that determine successful export diversification (ED) and export sophistication (ES) strategies in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and also the way in which successful ED and sophistication strategies contribute to explain the improving in some of the millennium development goals (MDG). We run separate regressions for the determinants of ES and ED, using disaggregated data of the 48 SSA countries, from 1960 to 2005. The results suggest that better governance is an important determinant for the success of diversification and sophistication strategies in SSA. In particular the level of corruption, transparency and accountability are important factors in limiting or promoting the scope of diversification and the level of sophistication of the exports. The results also suggest that increases in human capital in SSA countries promote both ED and ES, showing that the level of education of the workforce is positively related with ES and ED, with higher levels of education (tertiary) playing a more important role in explaining ES, while lower levels of education (primary) being more important as determinants of ED. In the second part we explore the links between ED and ES and growth presenting evidence that ED and ES are linked to growth stability in SSA. This study also suggests that the Sub-Saharan countries that were more successful in achieving ED and ES tend to be more successful in improving the living conditions of their population. Using different variables of Infant Mortality (one of the MDG) and life expectancy as dependent variables, we present evidence that suggests that in SSA higher ED and ES are associated with lower infant mortality and higher life expectancy. We show that this result is robust, presenting positive and significant results even when a large number of different control variables are introduced, or when fixed effects and instrumental variables are considered. The evidence suggests that ED and ES are part of the solution for a successful development of SSA. JEL codes:

Attachment, emotion regulation and coping in Portuguese emerging adults: a test of a mediation hypothesis

Although the quality of parent-adolescent emotional bonds has consistently been proposed as a major influence on young adult's psycho-emotional functioning, the precise means by which these bonds either facilitate or impede adaptive coping are not well-understood. In an effort to advance this inquiry, the present study examined interrelationships among measures of parental attachment, emotion regulation processes, and preferred coping strategies within a sample of 942 college freshmen. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test whether the link between attachment to parents and the use of particular coping strategies is mediated by differences in emotion regulation mechanisms. As hypothesized, differences in attachment to parents predicted differences in the use of emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. More specifically, having a close emotional bond, feeling supported in autonomy processes and having (moderately) low levels of separation anxiety toward parents predict more constructive emotion regulation mechanisms and coping strategies. Additionally emotion regulation was found to (partly or totally) mediate the association between attachment and coping

Reading and writing in Higher Education: A Portuguese case study

This study aims to present the main aims of a study skills project developed in two main interrelated sections: diagnosis and intervention. In the diagnosis process, the used a questionnaire (Queststud) directed to the students allowed the assessment of the comprehension/retention and writing levels of competence. On the other hand, through the use of the Questprof specifically directed to their professors, we aimed to assess the students’ level of competence based on their experiences during classes. In the intervention process, a “Study Skills Workshop” was developed where students have the opportunity of experiencing specific reading comprehension, retention and writing strategies and develop their skills in order to overcome their own difficulties

Underground public space for people: dealing with light and space

Qualificació obtinguda: 8 Màster universitari en Estudis Avançats en Arquitectura (BarcelonaArch) -- Contemporary ProjectA filter of light and city, negative interventions, to let the above flood by light into the mass of the subsoil. “The light and the gravity are the only elements capable of piercing the thinking of the stone”. The light reaches the underground only as zenithal light. Classified in three forms: direct, redirected and filtered, permitting the underground to be perceived as an integrated space by converting the underground line division, as a filter of light. Today, the subsoil is a non-place, a space of transition and intermediation between two points of the above, and it contains buried pieces of forgotten history. It is almost never a destination, due to it’s main role of transporting elements, it is a non-place. Today in some cities it is still a serving space, destined only to support the above. Why is the subsoil still retaining the same characteristics now a day, if it could solve so many other problems not only of space but density and experimentation in the city? Integrating the subsoil into the city is a very efficient way to improve the growth and the revaluation of the built zones and a way to take advantage of neglected buried spaces. Adding to it new uses, besides transportation, such as activities that provoke permanence. And finally physically integrating underground spaces to the urban fabric and thus achieves being part of fundamental system of public space. The public space above is characterized by natural light, we receive sunlight in a plaza or a park and we have visibility to other elements: we are in an “exterior”. But In the underground today it’s a complete different story, therefore this lack of perception, of natural light and visibility make these spaces isolated. A space is observable only when there is light and then is when it is inhabitable

Pré-projecto do museu de aviação dos Açores

Mestrado em Património, Museologia e Desenvolvimento (Relatório de Estágio).[…]. Ao longo do nosso Estágio, apercebemo-nos que a tarefa que encetávamos era ainda mais urgente, face a duas realidades específicas. Por um lado, constatámos a dispersão do acervo relacionado com a aviação nos Açores. Com efeito, não temos dúvidas de que, sem o processo de recolha do espólio da aviação, parte fundamental do nosso Estágio, rapidamente ficariam perdidos muitos registos da história deste arquipélago. Por outro lado, verificámos que muito dos testemunhos que foram auscultados no decurso do Estágio foram de indivíduos já com alguma idade e que também, naturalmente, irão deixar-nos, perdendo-se uma memória irrecuperável. Assim, a nossa principal preocupação neste Estágio foi a recuperação da história da aeronáutica nos Açores, não apenas para proteger o património material desta história, mas também o respetivo património imaterial, espelhado no saber e no labor de muitos homens e mulheres que dedicaram a sua vida na defesa quer da empresa em questão, mas também do próprio arquipélago

Growing separation between teaching/learning and research – anticipating the impacts from REF 2014

Most quality assessment systems are based on an explicit separation of teaching/learning and research; however, in spite of their having enhanced both the organisation and quality improvement of each of these fields, they have also been contributing to a widening of the gap between the two and to the devaluation of teaching. The present study, developed in the UK, intends to provide some insights into the perceptions of former panel members, managers and academics, as they anticipate the impacts from REF 2014. Increasing pressure to achieve high-quality research has been leading institutions to hire the most prestigious researchers. Were there to be equivalent effort to achieve parity in the quality of teaching, this situation might be less worrying, for teaching does not currently enjoy the same investment; rather, its very inferiority is considered to have an even more negative impact on the development of new practices, as well as on student learning and support

Practising college reading strategies: First-year students’ choices

This research aims to point out the main Reading/Comprehension strategies applied by Higher Education first -year students during their daily learning academic tasks and their major difficulties in this field. The research process consists in a measuring frequency Lickert scale questionnaire completed by 1,000 students from four of the main Portuguese state universities from science and engineering courses. From a whole set of strategies presented, the students had to refer to their reading habits and purposes, concentration levels during reading, comprehension rates, information detection and management techniques, support instruments usage, quotation and opinion exchange and doubt solving with teachers and foreign language (English) comprehension levels. Reading/Comprehension level groups were formed according to the competence and abilities of the students. Results seem to indicate that the majority of the students had an intermediate level of proficiency in this field. In fact, students tend to use general strategies connected with their specific academic tasks and study habits. However, results appear to indicate that students tend to avoid the usage of strategies that involve interaction with teachers and more specific strategies that may control/determine their academic writing tasks and that imply a higher scope of proficiency

Relatório: Qualidade da Investigação em Educação

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Research quality assessment: a research project

Research is a major driver of economic growth and competitiveness. In this context, the evaluation of its quality appears as a prime area for action and investment. This paper describes an ongoing research project developed in the Research Centre “Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers” (CIDTFF) about the assessment of the quality of research. We intend to present the project context, methods and expected results aiming to get an integrated contribution of the theme of evaluation of the quality of research focused on developing strategies and tools to promote the implementation of a quality culture at the institutional level. The close collaboration with CIDTFF management and the researchers allowed the design of the Institutional Matrix for Research Quality Assessment, the organisation of the Research Quality Workshop and data collection through the questionnaire: Quality Research in Education. It intends that the results could be helpful for the creation of tools to support the development of research excellence and the promotion of a quality culture

Assessment of research quality in higher education: contribution for an institutional framework

The past twenty years have seen a remarkable rise in the measurement of the impact/cost-benefit and value-for money of research outcomes. The implications for knowledge construction, higher education institutions and researchers are massive. This paper presents a proposal for addressing the question —how can institutions evaluate and monitor the quality of research in order to promote research excellence? The present study combines a strong documental analysis of major reference frameworks that are/were used across European higher education institutions with data analysis of a case study developed in the UK about the perceptions and recommendations of the main intervenients in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The dimensions and indicators identified in this study will contribute for the design of the Institutional Research Quality Assessment Framework that will be used in a research centre at the University of Aveiro. We provide examples of processes and practices of how institutions can develop internal evaluation exercises. We argue for an integrated/integrative approach where the basic principles of quality are identified, openly discussed and developed in order to reinforce the identity and promote the empowerment and engagement of researchers in the process of research assessment