Empirical Evidence on the Behavior and Stabilizing Role of Fiscal and Monetary Policies in the US

In this paper, standard SVAR tools and counterfactual simulation techniques are applied to study the behavior and countercyclical role of monetary and fiscal policies in the US. In order to set up the model properly, different issues raised by joint identification of monetary and fiscal policy shocks are addressed, in particular, the contemporaneous response of taxes to the federal funds rate. I conclude that the federal funds rate and taxes net of transfers have moved mostly for endogenous reasons and, in the latter case, this reflects automatic rather than discretionary policy. In contrast, government expenditure has been basically driven by exogenous forces. Further, I reach evidence that (automatic) fiscal policy has been the most important stabilizing force in the course of postwar recessions, surpassing the role of monetary policy, while both policies have contributed similarly to narrowing the output gap at early stages of the recovery.

Impact of the Recent Reform of the Portuguese Public Employees’ Pension System

This paper analyses the effects of the recent reform of the Estatuto da Aposentação, applicable to the contributors of the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (CGA). Using the "2005 Public Administration Human Resources Database", a simulation exercise is undertaken in order to evaluate the impact of the reform on the time-profile of retirements, initial pensions and CGA pension-related expenditure. The results show that the reform has heterogeneous effects, but, for most public employees, it results in an extension of the contributory career and a decrease in initial pensions, generating a reduction in the CGA pension-related expenditure.

A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Secondary Education Output in Portugal

This paper contributes to the discussion about the performance and efficiency of Portuguese secondary schools, using the stochastic production frontier analysis. We discuss the impact of school variables and the environment on output (measured by the average national examination scores), as determinants of the shape of technology and degree of efficiency. We find, in particular, that teacher seniority, school size and private management have a positive impact on output. The area where the school is located also plays an important role. Further, results show that schools differ considerably in their efficiency levels, and we also address the use of the stochastic frontier methodology in order to improve the computation of school rankings.

Time varying fiscal policy in the U.S.

To investigate the time heterogeneity effects of fiscal policy in the U.S., we use a non-recursive, Blanchard and Perotti-like structural VAR with time-varying parameters, estimated through Bayesian simulation over the 1965:2-2009:2 period. Our evidence suggests that fiscal policy has lost some capacity to stimulate output but that this trend is more pronounced for taxes net of transfers than for government expenditure, whose effectiveness declines only slightly. Fiscal multipliers keep conventional signs throughout. An investigation of changes in fiscal policy conduct indicates an increase in the countercyclical activism of net taxes over time, which appears to have reached a maximum during the 2008-09 recession.Fiscal policy, Bayesian estimation, Structural change, Macroeconomic stabilization

Para uma História do Jornalismo Literário Português: Repórteres e Escritores ao Longo do Tempo

Journalism and literature have always maintained a close relationship. While some literary works resemble the journalistic style of reporting on the present, some written reports are true literary works thanks to a narrative that exceeds the techniques of conventional journalism. It is within this framework that one can talk about literary journalism, journalism written by journalists (and not journalism written by writers or about journalists), which, following the rules and requirements that define the profession, makes room for the use of techniques typically associated with literature.Portugal has a long literary journalism history, and journalists who are distinguished by this style. This study seeks to offer a diachronic view of Portuguese literary journalism through an analysis of its development, from the end of the 19th century and across the First Republic, the Estado Novo, after April 25, to the present day. At the same time, we will consider different examples of international literary journalism to establish a possible definition for the topic.O jornalismo e a literatura mantêm desde sempre uma relação de certa proximidade. Se algumas obras literárias se aproximam do registo jornalístico de relato sobre o presente, também certas reportagens escritas parecem autênticas obras literárias graças a uma narrativa que excede as técnicas do jornalismo convencional. É neste enquadramento que se pode falar de jornalismo literário, um jornalismo escrito por jornalistas (e não jornalismo escrito por escritores ou sobre jornalistas), que, seguindo as regras e exigências que definem a profissão, abre espaço para o uso de técnicas tipicamente associadas à literatura.Portugal possui uma longa história de jornalismo literário e de jornalistas que se distinguem por este estilo. Neste sentido, este estudo procura oferecer uma visão diacrónica do jornalismo literário português através de uma análise do seu desenvolvimento, desde o fim do século XIX e atravessando a Primeira República, o Estado Novo, o pós-25 de Abril, até à atualidade. Ao mesmo tempo, considera-se diferentes exemplos de jornalismo literário internacional de forma a estabelecer uma definição possível para o tema

When speaking the same language doesn’t work: translation and gender in the Arab world

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Portugal’s dictatorship and the early days of the Spanish civil war: censorship and propaganda

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ChemLab - Remote robotic Laboratory for teaching Chemistry

This project aims to build a simulation, a real and low-cost robotic arm and its end effector capable of conducting Chemistry experiences remotely