Firms and workers: who fails in times of crisis?

Using a panel of linked employer-employee data from Portugal, we follow the performance of firms and workers during the first decade of 2000s in terms of the risk of firm shutdown and of chances of workers’ entering unemployment. This allows us to identify the characteristics of unsuccessful firms and workers over this period and, of most interest, whether these characteristics changed as a consequence of the global crisis. In addition, and different from previous works, we (i) assess whether there is a differential effect to crisis depending on firm size, and (ii) relate the workers’ risk of unemployment to the hazard of firm shutdown. In the analyses of hazard of shutdown and risk of unemployment most of the effects of observed covariates remained unchanged through the business cycle. There is a differential response to crisis depending on firm size. A small firm’s risk of shutdown is 9 times the risk of a large firm. However, the chances of becoming unemployed are less than twice larger for a worker in a small firm. This suggests that large firms may be less likely to shutdown, but they are not a shield from unemployment.firm survival, employment, crisis, LEED

Measuring match quality using subjective data

We examine whether data routinely collected in household surveys and surveys of workers can be used to construct a measure of underlying match quality between worker and firm which helps test matching models and predict subsequent labour market outcomes of workers. We use subjective data from employees both on reported levels of job satisfaction with various aspects of the current job and on whether they would like a new job with a new employer to construct a measure of underlying match quality. We then use this to test several implications of matching models relating to wage-tenure profiles, wages, and separations.panel data, wages, job mobility, match effects, BHPS

The dynamics of job creation and destruction for University graduates: why a rising unemployment rate can be misleading

This study uses a longitudinal matched employer-employee data set on the Portuguese economy to analyze systematic information on job creation and job destruction for university graduates, comparing it to other groups of workers. We find that the unemployment rate can provide an incomplete and misleading idea of the dynamics in labor demand and of the employment prospects for university graduates. The pessimistic view that seems to be popular nowadays, stating that the expansion of higher education may have gone too far and that investment in higher education has become a too risky business, possibly not worthwhile, as employers are no longer keen on recruiting newly graduate workers, does not find support in the empirical evidence for the Portuguese economy.unemployment, gross job flows

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on labour markets around the world: The case of Portugal

ZA-ILO webinar on “Taking stock of the COVID-19 crisis: The impact on the labour market and how countries have responded” (28 may 2021

Firms and workers : who fails in times of crisis?

Using a panel of linked employer-employee data from Portugal, we follow the performance of firms and workers during the first decade of 2000s in terms of the risk of firm shutdown and of chances of workers’ entering unemployment. This allows us to identify the characteristics of unsuccessful firms and workers over this period and, of most interest, whether these characteristics changed as a consequence of the global crisis. In addition, and different from previous works, we (i) assess whether there is a differential effect to crisis depending on firm size, and (ii) relate the workers’ risk of unemployment to the hazard of firm shutdown. In the analyses of hazard of shutdown and risk of unemployment most of the effects of observed covariates remained unchanged through the business cycle. There is a differential response to crisis depending on firm size. A small firm’s risk of shutdown is 9 times the risk of a large firm. However, the chances of becoming unemployed are less than twice larger for a worker in a small firm. This suggests that large firms may be less likely to shutdown, but they are not a shield from unemployment.This research was partially funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC) (award no. RES-518-28-001); and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Applied Microeconomics Research Unit (NIMA) (award no. PEst-OE/EGE/UI3181/2011

The Public Defender's Office in Brazil and the implementation of the early childhood rights.

openThe thesis will start with an introduction to the topic and an explanation of its purpose. We intend to answer the central question: Does the Public Defender's Office in Brazil significantly contribute to the implementation of early child rights? (How can this Brazilian institution contribute to implementing and disseminating public policies that have this objective? Which are the available tools, and in what ways this can be useful to society?). In the first chapter, the right to defence in Brazil is analysed. Laws linked to the right to defence at the international and national levels will be studied, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its monitoring body regarding the observations made on this topic to Brazil. The suggestions made to Brazil by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will also be analysed. In the second chapter, the Public Defender's Office analysis in Brazil is an essential topic to understand the function, aims, way of work and structure, investigating its work and the differences between the Brazilian way of providing legal assistance and other ways worldwide. In the third chapter, the topic is the analysis of children's rights, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in general. Also, the analysis of the monitoring reports from the Committee on the Rights of the Child to understand how this monitoring body sees this aspect in Brazil. The reports from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) regarding the child's rights in Brazil are, indeed, analysed. Then, how the Brazilian constitution and legal structure provide the rights of the Convention. Besides, to understand how children are protected and their rights. The fourth chapter aims to define early childhood and analyses its prediction in international and Brazilian legislation. Understanding the importance of this period and delimiting the difficulties encountered in implementing these rights is fundamental for the analysis carried out in the last chapter. Finally, the fifth chapter will analyse whether the Public Defender's Office in Brazil should and how and with what tools it can act in implementing early childhood rights. To illustrate, an interesting study case is brought: the acting Public Defender's Office on implementing the health rights of autistic children in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, Brazil.The thesis will start with an introduction to the topic and an explanation of its purpose. We intend to answer the central question: Does the Public Defender's Office in Brazil significantly contribute to the implementation of early child rights? (How can this Brazilian institution contribute to implementing and disseminating public policies that have this objective? Which are the available tools, and in what ways this can be useful to society?). In the first chapter, the right to defence in Brazil is analysed. Laws linked to the right to defence at the international and national levels will be studied, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its monitoring body regarding the observations made on this topic to Brazil. The suggestions made to Brazil by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will also be analysed. In the second chapter, the Public Defender's Office analysis in Brazil is an essential topic to understand the function, aims, way of work and structure, investigating its work and the differences between the Brazilian way of providing legal assistance and other ways worldwide. In the third chapter, the topic is the analysis of children's rights, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in general. Also, the analysis of the monitoring reports from the Committee on the Rights of the Child to understand how this monitoring body sees this aspect in Brazil. The reports from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) regarding the child's rights in Brazil are, indeed, analysed. Then, how the Brazilian constitution and legal structure provide the rights of the Convention. Besides, to understand how children are protected and their rights. The fourth chapter aims to define early childhood and analyses its prediction in international and Brazilian legislation. Understanding the importance of this period and delimiting the difficulties encountered in implementing these rights is fundamental for the analysis carried out in the last chapter. Finally, the fifth chapter will analyse whether the Public Defender's Office in Brazil should and how and with what tools it can act in implementing early childhood rights. To illustrate, an interesting study case is brought: the acting Public Defender's Office on implementing the health rights of autistic children in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, Brazil

Characterization of the hNek5 and hNek10 proteins in the DNA damage response context : a functional and interatomic approach

Orientador: Jörg KobargTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: A família de proteínas serina/treonina cinases Nek (NIMA related kinases) são similares ao seu homólogo NIMA (never in mitosis, gene A), uma proteína altamente conservada e crítica para a progressão do ciclo celular em Aspergillus nidulans. O interactoma e as funções dos 11 membros das Neks (1-11) em mamíferos permitiu associá-los à tríade funcional (1) mitose/centrossomo, (2) cílio primário/ciliopatias e (3) resposta ao dano no DNA, em revisão publicada por nosso grupo (Artigo I). Dentre eles, hNek5 e hNek10 são as menos caracterizadas quanto ao seu papel biológico. Assim, ensaios de duplo híbrido para Nek5 identificaram proteínas relacionadas à processos mitocondriais, dentre elas BCLAF1, Cox11 e MTX2, e ao dano no DNA, como BCLAF1 e TOPII?. Ensaios de colocalização e fracionamento subcelular indicaram a localização mitocondrial de hNek5 e seus efeitos na resistência à morte celular através de ensaios de apoptose e viabilidade celular (Artigo II). hNek5 pode ainda estar envolvida na resposta ao dano ao DNA à diversas drogas genotóxicas causando efeitos na parada do ciclo celular, estresse replicativo e desregulação na ativação de proteínas importantes para as respostas do dano no DNA (Artigo III). O interactoma de hNek10 foi analisado através de duas abordagens: (1) Screening de duplo híbrido indicando 12 interactores e (2) Espectrometria de massas identificando 58 e 117 proteínas interactoras sem e com indução de dano no DNA, respectivamente, associadas à processos biológicos como ciclo celular mitótico, proliferação celular, expressão gênica, processamento de RNA. Dentre as proteínas, confirmamos a interação com dois membros do complexo de coesinas, SMC1 e SMC3 e a depleção de hNek10 causou multinucleação, multilobulação nuclear, acúmulo na fase G1/S do ciclo celular, foci de ?-H2AX e aumento da morte celular; sugerindo que o silenciamento de hNek10 pode sensibilizar a célula à danos endógenos de DNA (Artigo IV). Isto posto, os estudos funcionais e interactômicos de hNek5 e hNek10 presentes neste trabalho permitiram caracterizá-las em novos processos biológicos, em especial, na resposta do dano no DNAAbstract: The Nek (NIMA related kinases) family of serine/threonine protein kinases is similar to its homolog NIMA (never in mitosis, gene A), a highly conserved and critical protein for the cell cycle progression in Aspergillus nidulans. The eleven members of the Neks (1-11) in mammals share biological functions grouped by the analysis of their interactomes in a functional triad, (1) mitosis/centrossome (2) primary cilia/ciliopathies (3) DNA damage response, in a review published by our group (Article I). Among them, hNek5 and hNek10 are least characterized as their biological roles. Therefore, a yeast-two hybrid screening identified Nek5 interactors related to mitochondria processes, such as BCLAF1, Cox11 and MTX2, and to DNA damage, BCLAF1 and TOPII?. Confocal microscopy images and subcellular fractionation indicated hNek5 mitochondrial localization and, by apoptosis assay and cell viability, its effects in cellular death resistance (Article II). Also, in response to genotoxic agents, hNek5 may cause effects in cell cycle arrest, replicative stress and deregulation in the activation of crucial proteins for the correct DNA damage response (Article III). hNek10 interactome was accessed by two approaches: (1) yeast-two hybrid screening indicating 12 interactors and (2) Mass Spectrometry identifying 117 and 58 interacting partners with or without DNA damage induction, respectively, associated to several biological processes, such as mitotic cell cycle, cell proliferation, genic expression, RNA processing. Among the interacting proteins, hNek10 interacted with SMC1 and SMC3, members of the cohesin complex, by immunoprecipitation assay and hNek10 depletion caused multinucleation, nuclear multilobulation, cell accumulation in G1/S, ?-H2AX foci and cell death increased levels, suggesting that hNek10 depletion may sensitize cells to internal genotoxic effects (Article IV). Taken together, the functional and interactomic results presented here for hNek5 and hNek10 characterized or corroborated their role in biological processes already related to other hNeks, especially in DNA damage responseDoutoradoGenetica Animal e EvoluçãoDoutora em Genética e Biologia Molecular2010/15262-2CNPQFAPES

The dynamics of job creation and destruction for University graduates : why a rising unemployment rate can be misleading

This study uses a matched employer-employee data set on the Portuguese economy to analyze systematic information on job creation and job destruction for university graduates, compared to other groups of workers. We find that the unemployment rate can provide a misleading idea of the dynamics in labor demand and of the employment prospects for university graduates. The pessimistic view that seems to be popular nowadays, stating that the expansion of higher education may have gone too far and that investment in a higher education degree has become a too risky business, possibly not worthwhile, as employers are no longer keen on recruiting newly graduate workers, does not find support in the empirical evidence for the Portuguese economy.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Financing constraints and fixed-term employment contracts: evidence from the 2008-09 financial crisis

This paper investigates the effects of financing constraints on employment decisions of firms, when it is possible to choose between permanent and fixed-term workers. We use linked employer-employee data for the universe of private sector firms in Portugal, and the 2008-09 financial crisis as a shock for identification. We find that firms in sectors that intrinsically rely more on external finance increased the share of fixed-term employment and hires after the crisis, while the effect for firms with wider access to buyer-supplier credit is relatively lower. At the worker level, workers in sectors that require significant external financing are more likely to be hired with a fixed-term contract after the crisis, while those in sectors that have wider access to supplier credit are less likely. Our results suggest that the crisis induced financially constrained firms to use the more flexible fixed-term contracts more intensively. Credit from suppliers alleviated this effect by potentially providing an alternative source of funds to credit from financial institutions.European Union FEDER Programme, and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Project EXPL/IIM-ECO/1207/2013