Institutional Approach and Enterprise Creation: Support Systems in the Case of Small City in Rural and Peripheral Areas of Portugal

The research aims to identify and analyse the formal institutional factors in the environment that constrain the creation of industrial enterprises in small city in rural and peripheral areas of Portugal, namely Covilhã County. It has as reference sources several approaches about enterprise creation and institutional economic theory due to their adequacy to the study of the factors that influence enterprise creation by encompassing institutions, services, programs and support measures. With this analysis we try to evaluate the extent to which entrepreneurs know about and employ the available institutional programs/services. Investigation hypotheses are formulated and subject them to empiric tests. The results, from the offer point of view of the services/programs, show that, duplication of resources and efforts on the part of institutions in the region often occurs making coordination more difficult and alienating the demand (entrepreneurs). From the view point of the demand, we noticed that entrepreneurs may have a broad awareness of the institutions, but this does not imply that they use their programs and services. Therefore recommendations are made having in view a better coordination among the different institutions involved so that the programs they offer can be more effective in the future.entrepreneurship, enterprise creation, institutions, institutional economic theory

Epilepsia do lobo temporal: mecanismos e perspectivas

The article presents a brief review of the historical findings, epidemiological, and therapeutic treatment for epilepsy, with a focus on temporal lobe epilepsy. Presents data from proteomic studies in epileptic brain tissue and highlights the importance of the application of this method in the search for new therapeutic targets for temporal lobe epilepsy.O artigo apresenta uma breve revisão sobre os achados históricos, epidemiológicos, tratamento e perspectivas terapêuticas para as epilepsias, com enfoque na epilepsia do lobo temporal. Apresenta dados obtidos com estudos de proteômica empregando tecido epiléptico e destaca a importância da aplicação desse método na busca de novos alvos terapêuticos.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Neurologia e NeurocirurgiaComissão de Neurobiologia Liga Internacional de EpilepsiaUNIFESP, Depto. de Neurologia e NeurocirurgiaSciEL

Drivers of Marketing Innovation in Portuguese Firms

This article aims at identifying and analyzing the drivers of innovation capacity of marketing in the context of Portuguese firms. From this standpoint, a theoretical framework is considered, which comprises the characterization of marketing innovation, as well as the determinants that underlie it. Based on the literature several research hypotheses are formulated, which are tested using secondary data provided by the “Observatório da Ciência e do Ensino Superior - OCES” - Observatory of Science and Higher Education, belonging to the “4º Inquérito Comunitário à Inovação – CIS 4”- 4th Community Innovation Survey-CIS, supervised by EUROSTAT. The method used is the logistic regression model. The results show that the variables included in the factor R&D pertaining to internal R&D activities, acquisition of machinery, equipment and software, acquisition of other external knowledge and performance of other procedures, and the factor marketing activities, influence the propensity of firms to innovate in marketing.innovation, marketing innovation, innovative capacity, Community Innovation Survey

Retomando o estruturalismo

The global economic crisis rescued Keynesianism. The current trends of the Brazilian economy, in what has been called "reprimarization", make timely reinvest structuralism in a position of greater prominence in the national economic debate. This is the main objective of this article. For this, we discuss a version of the macroeconomic model of "two-sectors," whereby it sought to show its relevance as a guide to thinking for a number of relevant socioeconomic issues, especially for third world countries. We seek also to demonstrate its consistency with certain empirical evidence and how it can be used as a basis for objective criticism of certain economic strategies that have been proposed for Brazil.Structuralism, macroeconomics, two sector model, Brazil, Political Economy,

Consumers Willingness to Pay to Avoid Transgenic Products

The debate on transgenic, which is embebed in asymmetrical information, has as a focal point, the risks and uncertainties to them associated. Many are the concerns and questions about the risks for the human health and the environment. Considering the interests of the productive sector in the transgenic technology, the matter sets itself in terms of how fast it wants to be settled taking into consideration the incapability of establishing certainties about the damages or benefits within the process. With the recent liberation by the Brazilian government for its production the sector starts showing segmentation. Therefore, this issue reflects in the market itself. The question is: are the consumers willing to buy transgenic? As an attempt to answer this question, this paper used a Contingent Valuation procedure, with an exploratory character, estimating consumer willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid the consumption of transgenic. This variable (WTP) was measured as a monetary estimate benefits.Transgenic, Contingent Valuation, measure of Well-being, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Impactos macroeconômicos do desempenho agropecuário

The current mundial economic crisis is contributing to show theoretical fails of neoliberalism. The time is ripe to rescue other visions theoretical. Among these are those which may be used to question the preaching for exploiting the agronomic potential of Brazil, as strategy of national insertion in world economy. This is the primary goal of this paper. Accordingly, was applied a two-sector macroeconomic model to identification and analysis of macroeconomic consequences of parametric changes in market agricultural goods. The results of exercises carried out by using the model showed misunderstandings contained in certain views of great presence in the brazilian economic debate.Macroeconomics and agriculture, Two-sector model, Brazil, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Comportamento e distribuição do gasto público em agricultura em Minas Gerais: multifuncionalidade ou fragmentação?

Este artigo tem o principal objetivo de identificar o comportamento dos gastos públicos em agricultura no estado de Minas Gerais, no período de 1985 a 2001. Constatou-se tendência à diminuição do volume desses gastos e à pulverização institucional destes, o que indica progressivo esvaziamento de tradicionais atribuições do Estado de apoio e fomento ao setor agrícola, acompanhado de crescente superposição de competências para gastar a verba pública alocada na função agricultura e de sua conseqüente diluição entre distintos sistemas operacionais da administração pública. Se o padrão de distribuição do gasto público em agricultura em Minas Gerais representa bem o que ocorre no resto do país, pode-se concluir que, no que concerne à intervenção do Estado na economia do setor agropecuário, o Brasil está na contramão das tendências atuais dos países mais desenvolvidos, nos quais, cada vez mais, esse setor é enfocado num contexto holístico, envolvendo, de forma integrada, múltiplos objetivos e políticas de preservação do meio ambiente e das culturas autóctones, a segurança alimentar, a inclusão social e a ocupação do espaço nacional.Despesa pública, Agricultura multifuncional, Sustentabilidade, Produtivite, Public Economics,

The Effect of Adverse Oil Price Shocks on Monetary Policy and Output Using a Dynamic Small Open Economy General Equilibrium Model With Staggered Price for Brazil

The aim of the present research is to use a model economy built for Brazil, based on an optimizing dynamic general equilibrium model, in order to perform numerical simulations to derive the ability of the artificial economy to explain the impact of monetary policy interventions on Brazilian short run economic performance in terms of the inflation rate, output gap, interest rate and level of economic activity in the face of an adverse oil shock. It is an extension of Bugarin et al. (2005) concentrating on the consequence of energy price increases, facing different monetary policy rules. Following Hall (1988 e 1990) and Finn (2000) it is considered that an increase in energy prices acts like a negative productivity shock. The model provides an accessible description of an artificial economy with a tractable micro-founded dynamic setting with forward looking rational agents in a small open economy with a staggered pricing mechanism that generates inflation inertia and recessionary disinflations. Alternative specification of monetary reaction functions are introduced into the model economy in order to perform a sensitivity analysis of derived impulse responses to those interventions facing the negative productivity shock. The preliminary results suggest that the introduction of habit persistence into the consumption hypothesis does not make much difference. However the introduction of different monetary reaction functions does alter the impulse response of output, inflation rate, and nominal interest rate. A common result is the decline in potential output for all models. Additionally, the only case where a reduction in the output gap is observed is when using the Taylor rule that takes into consideration the output gap and past interest rates with high persistence.