Product Attribute Saliency and Region of Origin: Some Empirical Evidence from Portugal

This paper empirically investigates the extent to which consumer preferences may act as promoters of regional products. Three products are studied in terms of the importance consumers attach to various product attributes with particular emphasis on region of origin information. The estimation of a hedonic price function, which relates the price of Portuguese regional products to its various attributes, provided empirical support to the hypothesis that region of origin matters to consumers. The study shows that wine, olive oil and cheese from some regions of origin have a significant impact on price. Particularly, some regions of origin are expected to have price premiums, while others are expected to have discounts.regional products, hedonic approach, wine, olive oil, cheese, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C21, D83, Q18,

Regional Products, Regions' Reputation and Commercial Strategies: A Tale of Two Cheese Suppliers

Networks of firms producing and selling regional products to domestic and foreign markets are influencing the direction and options of local development. Regional products are embedded in historical tradition and geographic, cultural and social specificity. Most of the local activities are performed by clustered SME's in well defined geographical areas. To study the mechanisms and factors which favour spontaneous development in specific areas and make SME's competitive through cluster development we used case study methodology. An evolutionary perspective of "Casa Matias" and "Casa dos Queijos", two portuguese SME's, is expected to illustrate which key factors triggered the firm's cheese business and, simultaneously, examine organisational practices with particular emphasis on cluster formation and internationalisation process. From this analysis we expected to conceptualise a specific policy scheme to help developing spontaneous entrepreneurship, cooperation between clustered SME's and local collective development.

Region's reputation and the price of regional products: a hedonic analysis of Portuguese quality cheese

Resources (tangible and intangible) can be mobilized to increase region's reputation and image giving a competitive advantage to certain products with origin in that region. The returns of a region's resources depend upon the ability of local firms to appropriate the rents earned and whether the consumers value the characteristics of the region that are associated with the product, being disposed to pay a price premium. The estimation of a hedonic price function, which relates the price of Portuguese regional cheeses to its various attributes provided empirical support to test the importance of designation of origin on price. The study showsthat some designations of origin and milk types have a significant impact on price, while retailer format (hypermarket versus online store)and cheese characteristics (cured versus not cured)are nor significant. Specifically, while cheeses from regions of Minho e Trás os Montes and Alentejo are expected to have price premiums, cheeses from regions of Beiras and Ilhas are expected to have discounts. Also, cheeses made with mixed milk and goat's and ewe's milk all have positive effects on price regarding cow's milk (base category).

Portuguese olive oil and the price of regional products: does designation of origin really matter?

Resources (tangible and intangible) can be mobilised to increase region’s reputation and confer a competitive advantage to certain products with origin in that region. The returns of a region’s resources depend upon the ability of local firms to appropriate the rents earned and whether the consumers value the characteristics of the region that are associated with the product, being disposed to pay a price premium. The results we got through the estimation of a hedonic price function, which relates the price of portuguese regional olive oil to its various attributes, provided empirical support to this idea. The study shows that designation of origin, producer’s brand and olive oil characteristics (biological and mixed with herbs) have strong impact on price. Specifically, olive oil from regions of “Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro”, “Beiras e Ribatejo” and “Alentejo” are expected to have price premiums relative to other olive oil without region indication (base category). It also allows to conclude that olive oil acidity has a negative impact on price.

Sport Tourism: Regional Promotion Strategies

The main purposes of this paper are (i) to analyze the regional promotion strategies of the UEFA Euro 2004 and (ii) to contribute for the improvement of planning and implementation strategies of tourism marketing at regional level. Data regarding these strategies were collected and synthesided. We verified if these match some of the theoretical issues of promotion and tourism marketing. Despite the fact that already many studies have been made, internationally, on the impact of sport events, the present study contains something new as it introduces an ante analysis on the regional pronotion strategies of major sport events.Unlikely, the results show that no specific and integrated regional promotion strategy was pursuit, and no substantial additional financial effort was made. In what concerns the private regional tourism agents, no promotion could be found. The main tourism promotion competition came from across the boarder, whit dynamic promotion actions of the nearby Spanish regional responsibles.UEFA Euro 2004, tourism, promotion, marketing, regional, Minho, Portugal, Spain and major sport events.

Territory and regional products: an attempt to evaluate the effects of territory information on product price

Regions are not mere geographical spaces, being also endowed with specific resources that can be mobilized to increase local producer’s value. Experimental research on Portuguese wine prices contradicted this idea, since region of origin information highlighted on the label or the brand does not have significant impact on price. Even when compared with other product attributes, region of origin information, as a whole, is generally of low importance. However, other product attributes like colour (red wine), age (more than 3 years) and special attributes (grape or reserve) all have positive effects on price.

QualityMatters: W jaki sposób i w jakich warunkach istotna jest jakość we wczesnej edukacji i opiece? Badanie w czterech krajach europejskich

QualityMatters, an extension of a European Commission funded study, the CARE project, intends to examine whether the quality of teacher-child interactions varies as a function of particular classroom features (e.g., types of activities, content, and grouping), to answer the overarching question: how and under what conditions does quality in early education and care matter? Through a cross-cultural process-oriented approach, the researchers in QualityMatters will capitalize on the variation in the ECEC systems present in 4 European countries (Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Por­tugal) to examine the complex relations of teachers’ choices regarding the activity and teacher-child interactions. The project will examine the extent to which children’s classroom interactions with teachers vary across activity settings, while taking into consideration country specifications regarding structural regulations. While much of the ECEC research has examined process and structural quality as separated constructs, QualityMatters will look at aspects at the intersection of process and structure, likely to be relevant for child development and learning.QualityMatters to kontynuacja projektu CARE finansowanego przez Komisję Europejską. Celem projektu jest zbadanie, czy jakość interakcji między nauczycielem i dzieckiem jest różna w zależności od poszczególnych cech charakteryzujących klasę (np. rodzaje aktywności, treści i grup), aby znaleźć odpowiedź na nadrzędne pytanie: w jaki sposób i w jakich warunkach jakość w zakresie wczesnej edukacji i opieki ma znaczenie? Dzięki międzykulturowemu podejściu zorientowanemu na proces naukowcy zaangażowani w QualityMatters wykorzystają różnorodność systemów ECEC obecnych w 4 krajach europejskich (Finlandia, Holandia, Polska, Portugalia) w celu zbadania złożonych relacji, związanych z wyborami dokonywanymi przez nauczycieli w zakresie działalności i interakcji między nauczycielem a dzieckiem. W naszym projekcie przeanalizujemy zakres, w jakim interakcje dzieci w klasie z nauczycielami różnią się w zależności od warunków aktywności, biorąc pod uwagę specyfikacje krajowe dotyczące przepisów strukturalnych. Podczas gdy znaczna część badań dotyczących ECEC traktowała jakość strukturalną i procesową jako oddzielne konstrukty, QualityMatters przeanalizuje aspekty w miejscu krzyżowania się procesów i struktur, które prawdopodobnie okażą się istotne dla rozwoju dziecka i uczenia się

O ensino introdutório da economia: algumas reflexões a partir de uma vivencia pessoal

O que ensinar no âmbito de disciplinas introdutórias de economia subsiste como tema de debate. Mais polémica que a questão do que ensinar será, porventura, como ensinar. A verdade e que a eficácia da transmissão de conhecimento e grandemente devedora da capacidade de comunicacão do docente e da adequacão dos instrumentos de apoio pedagógico de que se socorre. Estas diversas problemáticas são tratadas, de forma indiciária, na comunicacão que se segue, tomando como elemento organizador a vivência e a reflexão do autor. O tom é deliberadamente informal e provocatório, por forma a suscitar a discussão

Ser economista hoje, em Portugal: o que mudou com a implementação da Declaração de Bolonha

Se é sabido que a Economia, como ciência, se preocupa com a realização de escolhas de utilização de recursos escassos no quadro da satisfação de necessidades individuais ou sociais, afigura-se bem mais problemático dizer o que é ser economista hoje, em Portugal. A dificuldade que se anota levou-me, não há muito tempo, a exprimir embaraço quando essa questão me foi colocada, à semelhança de outros conhecidos colegas de “profissão”. Embora talvez não devesse ser assim, a dificuldade da questão alargou-se nos últimos tempos, não apenas em razão da complexificação das economias mas, igualmente, da transformação porque passam os curricula do ensino superior. É que, embora uma melhor adequação das formações oferecidas às necessidades das empresas e da sociedade fosse o grande argumento invocado pelo decisor político para precipitar a mudança, o acolhimento das “novas” formações pelo mercado de trabalho ficou fora da equação. É destes problemas difíceis e deste paradoxo que esta comunicação fala