Evaluation of the European Policies in Support of Ultraperipheric Regions, Azores, Madeira, Canarias, Guadalupe, Martinique, Guyane and Reunion

The paper looks at the development of the EU's outermost regions. We develop a model not only to explain the effects caused by peripherality but also to evaluate the European policies towards ultra peripheral regions. Ultra-peripherality is an economic and social phenomenon associated to a geographical structure characterised by two attributes: size and access. The structure of the model to analyse size, or supply performance, can be represented in three interrelated blocks: i) the first block explains the effect on the population of driving activities in island economies: exports, external aid for employment and external subsidies; ii) the second block establishes the relationships between population and activities associated to the provision of goods and services not receiving external aid; iii) the third block estimates the product and the income of the region by multiplying the quantity of each type of activity, measured in terms of the number of jobs involved. The structure of the model for access, or demand performance, is in a way implicit in the model of size through the population indicator; however, the population indicator does not clearly translate variations of accessibility to the region being. The present study uses the demographic potential to arrive at an accessibility indicator that uses easily accessible statistical data: the population and the traffic of passengers. We conclude that the impact of ultra-peripheral policies are weaker in the regions more dependent on external public transferences, the connection with neighbour countries can produce important effects in the economy, the elimination of the "sea rights" in most of the regions could generate important impacts in the respective development process, the effective liberalisation of air transportation will lead to a strong increase in the accessibility and the development process based on import substitution and external public transferences can led to a big increase in the population and created a great dependence on the "sea rights".

Strategic choice of the subsidiaries : contextual and operational factors

Considering the subsidiaries of multinational companies, a study of the conditions affecting the strategic choice is conducted. Beginning with an analysis of the taxonomies of subsidiaries, two strategic models were selected to test three hypotheses: one, regarding the variables that influence the strategic choice; a second, about the relationship between the two classification models and a third, about the influence of the type of subsidiary on performance. This study involved five European countries, namely the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and Portugal. It concludes that nation based variables have important influence in the determination of subsidiary strategic roles. This influence is present especially in terms of national culture with variables like individualism and uncertainty avoidance, while analyzing relationships, and age and technological capacity, while analyzing functions. We also found that both models used are independent, suggesting that they are complementary models and not substitutes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determinantes da estratégia das subsidiárias de empresas multinacionais

Considerando a globalização das actividades e os desafios particulares da gestão das subsidiárias de companhias multinacionais, foi efectuado um estudo dos principais factores que condicionam o processo de definição da sua estratégia. Analisando as tipologias de estratégia das subsidiárias, existentes na literatura, foram seleccionados dois modelos e estabelecido um conjunto de hipóteses: uma primeira, relativa ao conjunto dos factores que influenciariam a escolha estratégica; uma segunda, sobre o relacionamento entre as tipologias dos dois modelos seleccionados e; uma terceira, relativa à influencia do tipo de estratégia da subsidiária sobre o desempenho. Este estudo envolveu uma análise de cinco países Europeus e permitiu concluir que variáveis de base nacional, conjuntamente com a idade e capacidade tecnológica das subsidiárias, influenciam o tipo de estratégia adoptado

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora