The importance of foreign direct investment as an instrument for projection of state power: contribution to brazilian foreign policy

Tese especialmente elaborada para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Relações InternacionaisDentro do universo da globalização, em que as empresas estão cada vez mais integradas dentro das chamadas cadeias globais de valor, torna-se fundamental entender a chamada interdependência complexa que entrelaça Estados e agentes privados na busca de interesses comuns dento do cenário internacional. Neste contexto, avaliou-se o uso dos instrumentos geoeconómicos conhecidos por empresas transnacionais, empresas públicas e fundos soberanos como principais ferramentas nas disputas entre os Estados por recursos naturais e mercados consumidores. Esta tese analisa as políticas geoeconómicas de expansão de poder dos dez maiores Estados emissores de investimento direto estrangeiro (IDE) na sua modalidade greenfield para o Brasil, nos setores automóvel e de autopeças bem como para os setores de mineração e siderurgia, entre 2003 e 2017. Diante do Liberalismo nas relações internacionais e da ciência económica, foi possível agrupar as políticas geoeconómicas dos Estados investidores no Brasil em três grupos distintos, os quais, apesar de possuírem estratégias específicas, apresentaram variações principalmente no grau de intensidade da intervenção do Estado dentro das atividades económicas. Do ponto de vista regional, foi possível inferir quais os elementos que influenciaram o direcionamento do IDE de entre as vinte e sete unidades da federação brasileira. Desta maneira, foi possível desenvolver um contributo para a expansão da política externa brasileira baseado em um escopo denominado Middle Liberal e em uma estratégia de MSI dual, sendo assim capaz de ampliar o poder do Brasil e sua diplomacia económica, apresentando-o não apenas como um importante palco das disputas internacionais mas também convertendo-o em um importante ator geoeconómico global.The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the geoeconomic policies of power expansion implemented by the ten largest issuers of greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) to Brazil in the automotive and auto parts sectors and also in the mining and steel sectors between the years of 2003 and 2017. Within the universe of globalization in which companies are increasingly integrated within the global value chains, it is essential to understand the idea of complex interdependence that connects States and private agents in the pursuit of common interests in the international arena. In this context, the use of the geoeconomic instruments such as Multinational Corporations, State Owned Enterprises and Sovereign Wealth Funds were regarded as the main tools in the disputes between States in the search for natural resources and consumer markets. According to the ideas of liberalism in international relations and economic science, it was possible to group the geoeconomic policies of investor States in Brazil into three distinct groups, which despite having specific strategies, mainly varied the degree of intensity of state intervention within economic markets. From a regional point of view, it was possible to point which elements influenced the allocation of FDI among the twenty-seven units of the Brazilian federation. It was possible to develop a contribution to the expansion of Brazilian foreign policy based on a scope called Middle Liberal and on a dual MSI strategy, thus being able to expand Brazil’s power and its economic diplomacy, presenting itself not only as a an important stage of international disputes but also turning it into an important global geoeconomic player.N/

Quais caracterÃsticas influenciam a performance futura dos fundos de investimento de aÃÃes no Brasil?

nÃo hÃSegundo Jensen (1968), a indÃstria de fundos mÃtuos de investimento, cuja expansÃo està prevista teoricamente pelo Teorema da SeparaÃÃo enunciado em Sharpe (1964), teria limitaÃÃes no sentido de bater o mercado em termos de performance risco-retorno mensurada pelo alfa de Jensen. Nesta ampla discussÃo, esta dissertaÃÃo se posiciona em sugerir um exercÃcio empÃrico aplicado a um cross-section contendo 243 fundos de investimentos em aÃÃes, categoria Ibovespa Ativo, o qual visa identificar que variÃveis financeiras, contÃbeis e administrativas se mostram capazes de prever no ano seguinte o sinal e a significÃncia do alfa de Jensen. Foram extraÃdos retornos diÃrios para todos os fundos nos anos de 2011 e 2012, e calculadas mÃtricas clÃssicas de retorno, risco e performance, bem como os 24 balancetes mensais e informaÃÃes administrativas do perÃodo em questÃo. Metodologicamente, as variÃveis explicativas consistem em estatÃsticas descritivas obtidas a partir de dados financeiros diÃrios e contÃbeis mensais, enquanto as performances a serem modeladas sÃo estimadas por meio do Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Dessa maneira, foi possÃvel ordenar os fundos em trÃs grupos, composto por Loosers, Draw e Winners, de acordo com suas performances em relaÃÃo ao Ãndice Ibovespa. Sendo assim, foi identificado que apenas 71 dos fundos foram capazes de performar melhor que o Ãndice Ibovespa durante o ano de 2012. Os resultados obtidos com a estimaÃÃo do arcabouÃo de Probit ordenado sugerem que fundos com maiores performances mensuradas pelos alfa de Jensen e Ãndices de Calmar e Sortino, associados a menores taxas de administraÃÃo, tendem a bater o mercado no ano seguinte. Entretanto, mÃtricas clÃssicas como desvio-padrÃo, taxa de performance e Ãndice de Sharpe (1964) nÃo se mostraram significantes. O modelo sugere, tambÃm, que a variÃvel Drawdown seja apresentada como mÃtrica eficiente de mensuraÃÃo de risco.According to Jensen (1968), the mutual funds industry expansion is theoretically predicted by the Separation Theorem stated by Sharpe (1964), however with limitations in order to exceed the market in terms of risk-return performance measured by Jensen's alpha. In this broad discussion, this dissertation suggest an empirical exercise applied to a cross-section containing 243 stock funds, within the Ibovespa Active category, which aims to identify which financial, accounting and administrative variables are capable to predict the next year's value and the significance of the Jensen's alpha. Daily returns were extracted for all funds in 2011 and 2012, and were calculated classic metrics such as return, risk and performance. There were also extracted 24 monthly accounting balances and administrative informations for the period in question. Methodologically, the explanatory variables consist of descriptive statistics obtained from daily financial data and monthly accounting data, while the performances to be modeled are estimated using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Using this technic it was possible divide the funds into three groups, consisting of Loosers, Draw and Winners, according to their performances in relation to the Ibovespa index. Thus, it was discovered that only 71 funds were able to perform better than the Ibovespa Index during the year 2012. The estimation results of the ordered probit framework suggests that funds with higher performances measured by the Jensen's Alpha and with higher Sortino and Calmar ratios, associated with lower management fees tend to surpass the market in the next year. However, classical metrics like standard deviation, performance fees and Sharpe ratio (1964) were not significant. The model also suggests that the drawdown variable should be used as an efficient risk metric

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research