Impact assessment of innovation tax incentives in Brazil

Purpose - This paper evaluates the effects of tax incentives on business innovation in Brazil that were established by Law 11,196/05 (the ‘Fiscal Incentives Law’) to test whether they have had a positive impact on beneficiary firms’ innovation input and output and on their performance.Design/methodology/approach – The policy impacts are estimated using microdata on 13,706 firms available in the 2008 and 2011 editions of the Brazilian Innovation Survey (PINTEC) and by applying propensity score matching with difference-in-differences.Findings - The results suggest a positive and statistically significant impact of the policy on research and development (R&D) expenditures (average of approximately US$ 264,000 in 2011), the number of research staff (average of five researchers), and total employment (approximately 5% of the beneficiary firms’ mean size). However, no impact was found on the overall spending on innovative activities, the percentage of sales and exports from new products, net revenue, or net revenue per employee.Practical implications – The findings provide empirical support in favor of tax incentives as a policy tool to boost business innovation in the country. However, the absence of significant effects on innovative activities expenditures and on most indicators of innovation output and firms’ performance reveals shortcomings of the policy that need to be addressed.Originality/value – The study complements and advances the findings of previous studies by assessing policy impact on total innovative activities expenditures and on innovation output and firm performance

EVOLUTIONARY MODEL FOR PATENTS AND INNOVATION

This paper presents an evolutionary model of economic change and technology progress. The model is built within the Schumpeterian competition framework. Imitative and innovative behavior is the key of economic dynamics. The process of Research and Development - R&D and market structure is deeply studied to construct a model with a quite comprehensive dimension. Patents play a crucial role in this analysis: its length and its impact over the economic system will be put together in this investigation so that its costs and benefits will come into sight.Este artigo apresenta um modelo evolucionário para mudança econômica e progresso tecnológico. O modelo é construído de acordo com o sistema schumpeteriano de competição. Comportamento imitativo e inovativo é um elemento crítico da dinâmica econômica. O processo de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento - P&D e a estrutura de mercado são estudadas em profundidade tendo em vista a construção de um modelo integrado. Patentes jogam um papel central na análise: sua abrangência e seu impacto sobre o sistema econômico será integrado na investigação de forma que custos e benefícios possam ser apreciados

Phosphorus fractionation in volcanic lake sediments (Azores – Portugal)

The phosphorus distribution in volcanic sediments of three lakes that are under different anthropogenic pressures in São Miguel island (Azores – Portugal) was evaluated using a sequential extraction scheme. The P-fractionation scheme employs sequential extractions of sediment with NH4Cl, bicarbonate-dithionite (BD), NaOH (at room temperature), HCl and NaOH (at 85 °C) to obtain five P-fractions. The P-fractionation shows that in lakes with higher trophic status (Lake Furnas and Lake Sete Cidades), the NaOH extracted P is the dominant fraction, that contribute with more than 50% to total sedimentary phosphorus. The rank order of P-fractionation for these two lakes was NaOH > NaOH (85 °C) > HCl > BD > NH4Cl for Furnas lake and NaOH > HCl > NaOH (85 °C) > NH4Cl > BD for Sete Cidades lake. On the other hand, the trend of P contribution in the oligotrophic lake Fogo shows that the most inert P pools have the higher concentrations, with more than 50% of the P contribution from the last extraction step with NaOH at 85 °C. For this lake, the rank order of P-fractionation was NH4Cl > BD > NaOH > HCl > NaOH (85 °C). The Phosphorus Maximum Solubilization Potential (P-MSP) was also calculated and the results show that for the more bio-available P-fractions (first and second extraction step), the P-MSP values for Furnas and Sete Cidades lakes are sensibly higher than the results obtained in Fogo lake, an indication of the non-point diffuse load discharged in the first ones.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Convergência teórica da economia ecológica e da ecologia industrial

Face às evidências de agravamento dos problemas ambientais e interdependência entre estes e a trajetória insustentável das atividades econômicas, correntes teóricas postulam iniciativas de desenvolvimento favoráveis à conservação dos serviços ecossistêmicos, a exemplo da Economia Ecológica (EE) e da Ecologia Industrial (EI). Partindo do pressuposto de que a EE precisa avançar nas discussões relativas à firma e que a EI pode ser um caminho já trilhado para suprir parte esta lacuna, o objetivo deste artigo é apresentar evidências de convergências teórico-analíticas e indicar que o aprofundamento deste estudo pode levar à demarcação futura de uma Economia Ecológica da Firma. O uso de técnicas bibliométricas permitiu a construção de um portfólio de trabalhos científicos com relevância acadêmica para os dois campos de investigação, o qual serviu de referência para a presente pesquisa. Observou-se proximidade teórica relevante entre a EE e a EI, cujos desdobramentos ainda não foram adequadamente tratados pelos estudiosos de ambas as áreas.In the face of worsening environmental problems and the unsustainable path of economic activities, theoretical perspectives have claimed the improvement of initiatives to conserve ecosystem services, e.g. the Ecological Economics (EE) and Industrial Ecology (IE). Based on the assumption that EE needs to advance towards a theoretical approach related to the firm as well as that IE is a consolidated scientific field which may fulfill this gap, this article is aimed at presenting evidences of theoretical-analytical convergences and to indicate that the deepening of this study can lead to the future demarcation of an Ecological Economy of the Firm. The use of bibliometric techniques allowed the construction of a bibliographic portfolio with academic relevance in the two fields of research, which served as reference for the present work. We found a very relevant theoretical convergence between EE and IE, but the consequences of such a proximity have not been adequately addressed in the literature

Prospective scenarios for water quality and ecological status in Lake Sete Cidades (Portugal) : the integration of mathematical modelling in decision processes

The design of alternative strategies for water and ecological quality protection at the Lake Verde of Sete Cidades should be coupled with the assessment of future trophic states. Therefore, a mathematical model was developed to make prospective scenarios to reduce the risk of environmental degradation of the lake, and a modified Psenner scheme was used to characterize P distribution in the sediments. The model was able to describe thermal stratification, nutrient cycling (P, NH4 and NO3), dissolved O2, and phytoplankton dynamics in the water column and adjacent sediment layers. Internal P recycling, resulting from thermal stratification and sediment anoxia, was identified as the main cause for the increase of P concentration in the hypolimnion followed by slow transfer to the epilimnion (about 20 lg/L annual average). Cyanobacteria blooms during spring were explained by the availability of P and increased water temperature verified during this season. The most sensitive model parameter was sediment porosity. This parameter has a direct effect in dissolved O2 and P profiles and also in phytoplankton biomass. Finally, different water quality restoration scenarios were identified and their effectiveness assessed. Without the adoption of remediation measures (scenario control), Lake Verde water quality would deteriorate with annual average concentrations of total P and phytoplankton biomass (dry matter) reaching 34 lg/L and 2 mg/L, respectively, after 10 years of simulation. The reduction of P loads (scenario PORAL) into the lake would improve water quality comparatively to the scenario control, reducing the annual average concentrations of total P from 34 lg/L to 26 lg/L and of phytoplankton from 2 mg/L down to 1.4 mg/L after 10 years of simulation. In scenario sediments, corresponding to a decrease in the organic content of the sediments, a reduction in the concentrations of total P and phytoplankton is expected in the first two years of simulation, but this effect, would be attenuated throughout the years due to organic matter sedimentation. The best strategy is obtained by combining external and internal measures for P remediation. Finally, it is recommended that the model be used to integrate the results of water quality monitoring and watershed management plans.Regional Department of Water Resources and Land Planning; Regional Secretary of Environment and Sea; Science and Technology Foundation

A EXPERIÊNCIA DOS JOGOS DE OPOSIÇÃO PARA O ENSINO DE LUTAS

Como todos os esportes, as lutas possuem regras específicas a fim de punir atitudes de violência e de desrespeito às regras estabelecidas. As lutas podem ser trabalhadas desde as brincadeiras de cabo de-guerra e braço-de-ferro até as práticas mais complexas como a capoeira, do judô, caratê, entre outras. Compreende-se que as lutas no contexto escolar, possuem uma rica diversidade cultural e inúmeros benefícios voltados para o crescimento do aluno, seja no desenvolvimento de habilidades corporais, na compreensão de valores éticos e morais, no controle da agressividade e da melhoria no convívio social dos alunos transformando o individualismo em solidariedade e a disputa em cooperação

Multivariate factor analysis applied in the characterization of contaminants of an iron ore deposit

A an?lise fatorial ? uma t?cnica da estat?stica multivariada que tem o objetivo de diminuir o n?mero de vari?veis iniciais de uma an?lise, minimizando a perda de informa??o. A t?cnica cria um grupo reduzido de fatores comuns n?o observados a partir da interpreta??o das inter-rela??es existentes dentro do conjunto de vari?veis observadas. Neste artigo, a an?lise fatorial foi aplicada utilizando o programa R com o objetivo de encontrar fatores que representem a rela??o entre os contaminantes de um min?rio de ferro. Para tanto, foram analisadas as vari?veis Fe, SiO2, Al2O3, P, Mn, TiO2, CaO, MgO e PPC (perda por calcina??o). Os fatores foram extra?dos aplicando o m?todo dos componentes principais, utilizando a matriz de correla??o amostral. Observou-se que 83,5% do total da vari?ncia p?de ser explicada por 3 fatores. Utilizando a rota??o ortogonal do tipo Varimax, observou-se que as vari?veis PPC, CaO e MgO possuem cargas maiores no fator 1 (presen?a de carbonato), que as vari?veis Al e TiO2 t?m cargas mais altas no fator 2 (intemperismo qu?mico e/ou intrus?es ?gneas), e que o fator 3 est? relacionado com a vari?vel mangan?s.Factorial analysis is the technique of multivariate statistics which aims at the reduction of the number of initial variables of analysis, in order to decrease information loss. The technique creates a small group of common factors not observed from the interpretation of the existing interrelations within the set of observed variables. In this article, the factor analysis was applied using the R program with the objective of finding factors that represent the relation between the contaminants of an iron ore. To this end, the variables Fe, SiO2, Al2O3, P, Mn, TiO2, CaO, MgO and PPC (loss by calcination) were analyzed. The factors were extracted using the Main Components method, using the sample correlation matrix. It was observed that 83.5% of the total variance could be explained by 3 factors. Using the orthogonal rotation of the Varimax type, it was observed that the PPC, CaO and MgO variables have higher loads in factor 1 (carbonate presence), Al and TiO2 variables have higher loads in factor 2 (chemical weathering and/or igneous intrusions) and factor 3 is related to the Manganese variable