Political Business Cycles and Inflation Stabilization

When the choice of the nominal anchor and timing of inflation stabilization is analyzed with models of political business cycles, there is room for political opportunism of policymakers. The different business cycles associated with exchange rate-based (ERBS) and money-based stabilizations (MBS) imply that the decision regarding the timing and nominal anchor of stabilization may be affected by the timing of elections. Namely, an opportunistic policymaker is more likely to implement an ERBS than a MBS before elections, while the opposite happens after elections. Empirical results obtained when estimating a multinomial logit model for a sample of 35 stabilization programs implemented in chronic inflation countries clearly support this hypothesis.Inflation stabilization, nominal anchors, political business cycles.

Estrutura e Procedimentos

O serviço militar em Portugal em tempo de paz passou a basear-se no voluntariado a partir de 2003, acompanhando a evolução no sentido da abolição da conscrição que se tem verificado nos países ocidentais.1 As FORÇAS ARMADAS Portuguesas passaram a concorrer no mercado para obter os seus meios humanos. Perante esta evolução, ainda recente, a seguinte questão mantém elevada relevância: Como deverá ser orientada a evolução das estruturas e dos procedimentos para que o recrutamento se mantenha adaptado aos condicionamentos, e possa responder com sucesso aos desafios, que lhe são colocados pela sociedade moderna? Para responder a esta questão quisemos saber, em primeiro lugar, até que ponto a evolução para o recrutamento baseado no voluntariado é reversível. Verificámos que a abolição da conscrição nos países ocidentais não resulta primariamente de uma imposição da sociedade moderna. Na verdade, a conscrição tornou-se obsoleta do ponto de vista militar, porque os factores que levaram ao seu advento no passado deixaram de estar presentes na conjuntura estratégica internacional contemporânea. A natureza desta evolução torna a sua reversão improvável. Analisando a vasta experiência existente na gestão de FORÇAS ARMADAS profissionais, nos países ocidentais, especialmente nos EUA, e os resultados disponíveis do esforço de investigação e desenvolvimento, foi possível identificar um conjunto de lições aprendidas de elevada utilidade para perspectivar a orientação da evolução das estruturas e dos procedimentos de recrutamento em Portugal. Constatou-se que as FORÇAS ARMADAS baseadas no voluntariado, se por um lado permitem alcançar níveis de capacidade e prontidão nunca antes atingidos, por outro, encontram-se em risco permanente de insucesso, obrigando a cuidados contínuos. Manter Forças Armadas profissionais na sociedade moderna exige um elevado empenhamento institucional e uma gestão de alta qualidade. Da análise à situação actual nas Forças Armadas Portuguesas conclui-se que os Ramos passam por dificuldades de recrutamento de ordem quantitativa e de ordem qualitativa, apesar de usufruírem de um contexto muito favorável, devido ao nível de desemprego e à redução progressiva dos seus efectivos. Considerando a situação do recrutamento nas Forças Armadas portuguesas, as actuais estruturas e procedimentos, e recorrendo-se às lições da experiência dos países ocidentais na gestão de Forças Armadas profissionais, perspectivaram-se linhas de orientação para a evolução das estruturas e dos procedimentos de recrutamento. Concluiu-se que, para o sucesso do recrutamento militar, as estruturas e os procedimentos devem evoluir pelo reforço de funções mais eficientemente desempenhadas ao nível do Ministério da Defesa e ao nível conjunto, mantendo a responsabilidade da execução do recrutamento nos Ramos

Retirement and the Poverty of the Elderly in Portugal

The effect of retirement on economic welfare, indirectly measured by income, has not been studied widely, namely due to the lack of longitudinal data. A large literature exists about poverty in old age, mainly based on cross sectional survey data, but usually those studies are not able to study the transitional effect of retirement on income as they do not observe the workers who do retire before and after their retirement. The knowledge of this phenomenon is, however, of crucial relevance given the growing number of elderly people, the trend towards earlier retirement, and continuing relatively high poverty rates among the elderly. This paper analyses the association between transitions into retirement and the probability of becoming poor, considering different definitions of low income and of retirement, following what has been proposed in the literature. It is based on longitudinal data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for Portugal survey waves 1-8 covering 1994-2001. Taking advantage of the longitudinal nature of the data used, we consider how the process of becoming retired is associated with an increased risk of having a low income, focusing on changes in the years immediately before and immediately after retirement for people who retire. The analysis is then focused on a sample of people who do retire during the analysed period. The paper starts by presenting evidence comparing low income incidence among retired people and the rest of the population on each of the waves of ECHP. Afterwards it analyses some factors associated with the changes in individuals’ income over a number of years around retirement. The dynamics of household income changes for people who retire are studied and which personal and household characteristics are associated with a higher risk of having low income in the years around retirement are explored. Finally, a multivariate probit model of the probability of entering low income at the time of retirement conditional on not having a low income before retirement is estimated.Retirement; poverty dynamics; Portugal; old-age social protection; income mobility.

Ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainability at Lisbon School of Health Technology, Portugal

Higher education institutions, has an active role in the development of a sustainable future and for this reason, it is essential that they became environmentally sustainable institutions, applying methods such as the Ecological Footprint analysis. This study intent is to strengthen the potential of the ecological footprint as an indicator of the sustainability of students of Lisbon School of Health Technology, and identify the relationship between the ecological footprint and the different socio-demographic variables

Classes de estimulação em adultos numa instituição do foro mental

Objectivos: Avaliar o desenvolvimento cognitivo, a melhoria do desempenho físico e interacção em grupo e, o desenvolvimento comportamental e de comunicação, em indivíduos com distúrbios mentais submetidos a classes de estimulação. Metodologia: Antecedendo o início das sessões procedeu-se a uma avaliação inicial de 6 indivíduos adultos institucionalizados, com Deficiência Intelectual, de moderada a severa, recorrendo a três instrumentos de avaliação, incluindo o Mini Mental State (MMS), Teste de Desempenho Físico Modificado (TDFM) e o Protocolo de Observação Comportamental (PROC). Esta avaliação permitiu uma consciencialização das principais necessidades a suprir nas 20 classes de estimulação realizadas e foi posteriormente comparada com uma avaliação final. Resultados: A análise dos resultados revelou uma maior evolução no campo comportamental, com uma média de elevação na pontuação do PROC de 26,33, seguido de um aumento médio da pontuação do TDFM de 3,83 e de 2,83 no MMS. Discussão/Conclusões: As singularidades de cada indivíduo com transtornos do foro mental geram um desafio à sua intervenção em grupo, no entanto esta pode ser a resposta a um desenvolvimento do comportamento adaptativo e social. A nível cognitivo a evolução centrou-se na orientação, memória e nomeação. Os valores alcançados pelo TDFM referem-se, não ao alcance de novas capacidades físicas, mas à rapidez de execução das tarefas. Contudo, as melhorias mais significativas representaram-se principalmente na capacidade de comunicação e compreensão, reflectidas na interacção dos indivíduos em diferentes situações, com diferentes objectos e pessoas. Apesar da amostra deste estudo incluir um grupo restrito de indivíduos, a ênfase deve ser dada às necessidades e problemas encontrados na avaliação, e não ao diagnóstico. Desta forma, podemos pressupor que esta intervenção pode ser aplicada a indivíduos com características cognitivas, comportamentais, sociais e físicas semelhantes

The role of the compressor isentropic efficiency on non-intrusive refrigerant side characterization of transcritical CO2 heat pump water heaters

Characterizing the refrigerant side of heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) can be intrusive and expensive. On the other hand, direct external measurement techniques can be unfeasible, particularly in commercial HPWHs for residential applications. Non-intrusive in-situ characterization methods have already been successfully implemented in subcritical heat pumps, providing the refrigerant mass flowrate and the equipment energy performance, by using contact temperature sensors and electric power meters. Subcritical suction and discharge specific enthalpies necessary to apply the method can be obtained from the measured temperatures and their corresponding saturation pressures. Nevertheless, this approach does not apply to the transcritical CO2 HPWHs. In the supercritical region, temperature and pressure are independent variables, and an iterative process regarding the compressor isentropic efficiency has to be considered. However, when isentropic efficiency data is not available, an additional procedure is required, using a validated gas cooler model to verify the physical reliability of the numerical solutions.The present study was developed in the scope of the Smart Green Homes Project [POCI-01- 0247-FEDER- 007678], a co-promotion between Bosch Termotecnologia S.A. and the University of Aveiro. It is financed by Portugal 2020 under the Competitiveness and Internationalization OP, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This work was funded by the grant SFRH/BD/148378/2019 and the projects UIDB/00481/2020 and UIDP/00481/2020 – FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; and CENTRO-01- 0145-FEDER-022083 – Centro2020, under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the ERDF

Strategic alliances and competitive performance in the pharmaceutical industry

This paper aims to improve knowledge about the relationship between strategic alliances and performance. It begins by proposing a moderating role for the alliance management capability. Next, it advances an explanation of the impact of the alliances on performance, which is based on the firms' ability to deploy their product portfolios and their alliance portfolios. The research hypothesis formed a structural model that was tested using partial least squares (PLS). The context for the empirical application was the Portuguese pharmaceutical industry. The results confirmed that the proposed moderating role is significant. Additionally, alliances are effectively used for growing and for innovating. Generic drugs are an important way to reconfigure the firms' portfolios and to explain performance; however, they do not significantly depend on alliances. The main lessons are: (a) a better understanding of the reasons ‘why’ alliances enhance performance; (b) managers should develop their firms' alliance management capabilities, in order to fully exploit the benefits of alliance; and (c) a sensible criterion for firms to evaluate the potential alliances is to evaluate the alliance's ability to leverage growth and innovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of the alliance management capability

This paper proposes that the frequently established association between alliances and performance can be further explained by the alliance management capability. It unfolds some relationships that are encapsulated in the simple link between the alliance-related construct and the performance measures. The research hypothesis formed a structural model and the results confirmed that the proposed moderating role for the alliance management capability is significant and that alliances are effectively used for growing and for innovating.The main outcomes are: (a) a discussion and a test of ‘what is’ the alliance management capability; (b) a better understanding of the reasons why alliances enhance performance, namely by leveraging growth and innovation..info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design, manufacturing & analysis of an ABS differential gear system model

Com o apoio RAADRI.This work presents the assessment of Von Mises stresses in straight-tooth bevel differential gear system of a pedagogical model. This model was designed and the straight-tooth gears were formed using a 3D printing rapid prototyping. Two different percentages of densities (60% and 100%) of printed gears with ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) were analysed and compared. Von Mises stresses in the teeth of the gears were obtained using finite element analysis (FEA) with PTC Creo Parametric 2.0. Results showed that the manufactured gears by the method of 60% of ABS density are capable to withstand the applied forces, i.e. the allowable stress of the material is not achieved

Tool Development for Human Audible Spectrum Compensation

Communication relies on good understanding. Humans relate to each other through visual, audible and tactile communication. It is imperative that the audible communication message reaches the receiver in good conditions, in order to keep a healthy, smooth and understandable speech. There are some disturbances in human speech and communication when hearing damage is present. Nowadays, hearing loss is a frequent injury, caused by noise pollution, daily stress or noisy workplaces. Yet, it can be treated by several ways. This project consists in developing a tool that captures the emitter's voice audible spectrum, filters the noise and other frequencies, and compensates the message, enabling the listener/receiver understanding. The purpose of this research is not aimed to substitute nor compete with hearing aids in the market, which are well-developed, certified and prescribed by Otorhinolaryngology clinicians. The focus of this study is to identify the issues of human hearing loss and to develop an algorithm for hearing compensation by using filtering techniques in a simulated environment applied to a hearing model