The central element of the comic sense of Great Expectations

Being portrayed as possessing inwardness, Pip, the lead character in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, thinks by himself and changes as an effect of this thinking. This characteristic makes him mature and achieve a full self at the end of the novel. Pip’s self, his personality, takes form in his acceptance of a need for pain, which is observed in his relationship with Estella, his childhood love. Estella does not love him back, but Pip, even without developing a sexual relationship with her, as the ambiguous ending of the novel suggests, accepts the painful nature of love. In other words, he accepts being close to her even though their relationship is painful to him. My main claim, thus, is that the reconciliatory acceptance of his need for pain configures the comic aspect of Pip’s personality and the comic sense of the novel.  Sendo retratado como alguém com interiorização, Pip, o personagem principal de Great Expectations, de Charles Dickens, pensa por si só e muda com o resultado desse pensamento. Essa característica o faz amadurecer e ser capaz de solidificar uma personalidade plena, um “self”, ao final do romance. A personalidade de Pip toma forma na aceitação de sua necessidade de dor, observada em sua relação com Estella, seu amor de infância. Estella não o ama como ele a ama, mas Pip, mesmo sem desenvolver um relacionamento sexual com ela, como o final ambíguo do romance sugere, aceita a natureza dolorosa do amor. Em outras palavras, ele aceita estar perto de Estella ainda que o relacionamento deles cause dor a ele. Meu argumento, portanto, é que o caráter reconciliatório da aceitação de sua necessidade de dor configura o aspecto cômico da personalidade de Pip e o sentido cômico do romance. &nbsp

Internet sales as a new mode of internationalization

The way that organizations explore the Internet has been the focus of a substantial body of scientific studies and non-academic reflection. The main goal of this study is to analyze the potential of the internet as a mode of internationalization and the factors that influence the results of the adoption of this mean to access foreign markets. For this purpose, we examine the determinants of the level of international sales made via internet estimating an ordered probit model. The results show that the importance of previous experience in using the internet and developing international activity, together with the level of internet marketing budget , the level of investment on internet sophistication, the firm dimension, the business age and the type pf activity are variables that determine the results obtain in the international sales trough the internet.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Robotics and AI in the European Union: opportunities and challenges

The development of AI will bring with it a plethora of new economic and social opportunities. Areas that are as distinct as agriculture and health will be inevitably changed. However, this “new” technology also brings with it fundamental challenges and a new reality that our current legal framework is not yet prepared to deal with. In this paper, we will study the opportunities that AI brings to the European Union, the difficulties of regulating it, the current state of affairs, and theinitiatives currently being drawn up to guarantee that the EU can keep up and even become a leader in this area. Our focus will be on the areas of health, labour market, liability rules and the challenges for the integration of robots in our daily lives

A short guide to the legislative procedure in the European Union

This paper aims to clarify how the legislative procedure works in the European Union (hereinafter, EU), both in the Treaties and in practice. We will study the rules governing the ordinary legislative procedure and the special consent and consultation procedures. Advantages and shortcomings of each of the procedures will also be addressed, including the main actors and the level of transparency and accountability. Within the ordinary legislative procedure, we will assess whether the informal trilogues should be reformed to be more accessible to the European citizen. Lastly, our paper will also address the use of passerelle clauses and citizen’s and how they can affect the lawmaking procedure in the E

O desafio de minimizar os custos escondidos das reformas no sector público

Comunicação apresentada no 8º Congresso Nacional de Administração Pública – Desafios e Soluções, em Carcavelos de 21 a 22 de Novembro de 2011

Regional Differences in Returns to Education in Portugal

This paper analyses differences in the return to education in Portugal across regions. For this purpose, we use an extended Mincer-type wage equation. OLS regression results indicate that differences in the rewards to education are substantially different across regions. In particular, they are much higher in Lisbon than in other regions. Since the average level of education in Lisbon is much higher in Lisbon than elsewhere such a differential is attributed to the fact that the demand for educated labour is much higher in Lisbon, likely due to differences in technology. A quantile regression analysis reveals that the return to education is not constant across the whole conditional wage distribution. This is valid for the 18 regions examined, although once again the impact of education on wages is higher in Lisbon regardless the quantile we examine.

The European Union’s existential crisis: current challenges from populism to Donald Trump

2016 was marked by the rise of populism and isolationism around the world. The European Union is losing a Member State for the first time, after the British voted to leave in their “Brexit” referendum. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, causing concern amongst European leaders. In the remaining Member States, populist and Eurosceptic political forces are becoming more relevant, further endangering the integrity of the European Union. In this paper, we analyse the motives behind the European Union’s “existential crisis”, which is arguably, one of the most significant challenges the EU will face in its near future. We conclude that the European Union must reform in order to regain their citizens’ trust and reinforce democracy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contributions of Marine Cluster for Regional Sustainability: Economic Prospective for Azores

The project SEAValue proposes to develop a first integrate approach to valuation of the Sea of Azores from economic view analyses.The project aims the estimation of the contribution of the sea, namely, maritime sector and marine ecosystem services, and their benefits for the sustainable development of the Autonomous Region of Azores through a responsive and effective decision support process.Nowadays, the world context of the sustainable ocean governance is one of the paradigms that the Azores Autonomous Region should address, in particular, due to the geographical position in the core of the Atlantic area and its geopolitical implicit factors. The extension of the Portuguese EEZ would raise new challenges and responsibilities to sea management. Different governance transversal issues as legal, planning, conservation, economic and their scales of articulation into local, national, European and international level, need a coherent governance framework. Estimate the value, specially the economic value, bring the awareness of the benefits that sea offers to Azores. Furthermore it would enhance the decision support process through define of strategic options for the development of public policy of the Region. The multidisciplinary research of the project from Governance, Economy and Environmental Planning approach provides integrate and holistic vision of the Sea and would project outputs as tools and options for operational decisions.O presente artigo identifica e salienta um conjunto de benefícios e oportunidades derivados da aplicação da metodologia de clustering a vetores económicos endógenos, em particular, os do ambiente marinho. Num contexto de desenvolvimento regional, os clusters têm-se demonstrado importantes ferramentas para a governação e a implementação política. O atual contexto económico força as regiões a desenvolverem um novo paradigma de sustentabilidade. Assim, para o caso das pequenas regiões como os Açores, o modelo de desenvolvimento deve dar atenção às oportunidades decorrentes da governação dos seus recursos internos. Tendo por base uma abordagem de gestão estratégica, este trabalho efetua uma análise prospetiva que identifica o quadro, os fatores e os requisitos necessários para a definição de um Cluster do Mar para os Açores. O âmbito do cluster deve abranger não somente as principais atividades existentes no Mar dos Açores, bem como outros setores com potencial para a região e que se entrecruzam pelo uso e valor do Mar. A estrutura proposta visa contribuir para o desenvolvimento do Mar dos Açores, enquanto força económica endógena. Por outro lado, a presente investigação avalia as contribuições do cluster do mar para o sistema económico regional e nacional, bem como a sua ligação a outros vetores económicos. A proposta do Cluster do Mar dos Açores surge como um smart mechanism que permite o acompanhamento das dinâmicas derivadas da agenda europeia e internacional sobre os assuntos do mar, particularmente o crescimento económico e economia azul.ABSTRACT: This paper points out the benefits and opportunities of using the clustering methodology applied to the endogenous economic drivers, in particular, the marine domain. In regional development context, the cluster appears as a powerful tool for governance and policy implementation. Currently, economic transition forces the regions to develop a new sustainability paradigm. In the case of small regions, such as the Azores Archipelago, the development model relies on the governance opportunities of internal resources. Using a strategic management approach the paper performs a prospective analysis to identify the framework, factors and requirements needed to define the Azores Marine Cluster. The cluster congregates the main sea activities already performed in the region and add the potential sectors recognized. This structure derives from the evaluation of the overall potential of the Sea of the Azores as an endogenous economic force. The paper weighted the contributions of the Azores marine cluster to the regional economic system and the link to other economic drivers. The Azores Marine Cluster arises as a smart mechanism to implement recommendations and requirements, especially at the European and International governance agenda.Funding for this work is granted by FCT - CEEAplA, Research Centre of Applied Economics Studies of the Atlantic. FRCT- Regional Technology and Science Regional Azores Fund. Science Regional Azores Fun

THE APPLICATION OF THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE LAW OF THE SEA

The precautionary principle, invoking the notions of risk, scientific uncertainty and irreversible damage, takes the solution of the environmental issues of the global risk society to the legal domain. Its application in international law has evolved significantly, especially with respect to the protection of the marine environment. This principle, which was much ignored in its practical application, is gradually being used in international environmental protection. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the jurisprudence of the ITLOS has contributed to the development and application of the precautionary principle for the protection of the marine environment and how the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea contributed to the development of this principle in international law. Thus, although we are still not able to safely say that the precautionary approach is included in international law as an unchallenged principle, it has been given great steps over the last few years in this direction. Particularly with the contributions of the international jurisprudence of the ITLOS, the precautionary approach is evolving and becoming an autonomous principle, with less uncertainty and subjectivity that caused so much apprehension for the States and doubt in the doctrine