Reducing policy risks in different industrial policy instruments: the case of Portugal

In this paper I discuss how different forms of industrial policy in Portugal are subjected to different policy risks, and which institutional solutions can be adopted in order to improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of these forms of government intervention. Our analysis emphasises the differences between four instances of industrial policy according to two dimensions: the number of (potential) beneficiaries targeted by the policy and the diversity of public agencies in possession of the relevant skills for its implementation. These factors help to determine the level of scrutiny to which public policies are subjected, whether by private actors or within the State apparatus. Both sources of scrutiny help to minimise the risks of capture of public resources by private interests and to foster institutional learning processes that promote the effectiveness of policies.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Institutional conditions for effective and legitimate industrial policies: the case of Portugal

State intervention in support of specific productive activities aiming to foster structural change (i.e., industrial policy) has been a controversial topic in both academic and political debates. In spite of many years of theoretical and empirical research, such debate has not reached definite conclusions. Recently, the debate on industrial policy has been experiencing a change of focus, falling away from the rationale of such public interventions to focus on the institutional conditions that promote the success of the policies pursued. In this paper we analyse the conditions for effective and legitimate industrial policies, examining four cases of such type of interventions in Portugal. Our analysis emphasises the differences between the various interventions according to two dimensions: the number of (potential) beneficiaries targeted by the policy and the diversity of public agencies in possession of relevant skills for its implementation. These factors help to determine the level of scrutiny to which public policies are subjected, either by private actors or within the State apparatus. Both sources of scrutiny help to minimise the risks of capture of public resources by private interests, and to foster institutional learning processes that promote the effectiveness of policies.FCT

Occasional essay: upper motor neuron syndrome in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) requires recognition of both lower (LMN) and upper motor neuron (UMN) dysfunction.1 However, classical UMN signs are frequently difficult to identify in ALS.2 LMN involvement is sensitively detected by electromyography (EMG)3 but, as yet, there are no generally accepted markers for monitoring UMN abnormalities,4 the neurobiology of ALS itself, and disease spread through the brain and spinal cord,.5 Full clinical assessment is therefore necessary to exclude other diagnoses and to monitor disease progression. In part, this difficulty regarding detection of UMN involvement in ALS derives from the definition of ‘the UMN syndrome’. Abnormalities of motor control in ALS require reformulation within an expanded concept of the UMN, together with the neuropathological, neuro-imaging and neurophysiological abnormalities in ALS. We review these issues here

Counterfactual impact evaluation of EU funded enterprise support in Portugal

This paper uses a counterfactual approach to assess the impact of the main Operational Program of the EU Structural Funds in Portugal during the period 2000-2006 (POE/PRIME) on the performance of beneficiary firms. We find that public support to firms’ investment increases their likelihood of survival after three years by 11 percentage points, and leads to the net creation of 2.1 additional jobs in the same period. The positive results obtained in our study suggest that the public support to firms’ investment in Portugal in 2000-2006 was mostly well designed, at least in the light of the impact dimensions under analysis. The incentives were particularly effective in the case of firms that are typically more fragile (particularly, new firms and/or firms with low financial autonomy). We also find that the support had greater impacts in the case of large firms, and that the average cost per additional job created as a result of incentives was relatively modestObservatório do QREN, COMPETE, CCDR Norte, IFDR and FC

Cognitive debiasing 2: Impediments to and strategies for change

In a companion paper, we proposed that cognitive debiasing is a skill essential in developing sound clinical reasoning to mitigate the incidence of diagnostic failure. We reviewed the origins of cognitive biases and some proposed mechanisms for how debiasing processes might work. In this paper, we first outline a general schema of how cognitive change occurs and the constraints that may apply. We review a variety of individual factors, many of them biases themselves, which may be impediments to change. We then examine the major strategies that have been developed in the social sciences and in medicine to achieve cognitive and affective debiasing, including the important concept of forcing functions. The abundance and rich variety of approaches that exist in the literature and in individual clinical domains illustrate the difficulties inherent in achieving cognitive change, and also the need for such interventions. Ongoing cognitive debiasing is arguably the most important feature of the critical thinker and the well-calibrated mind. We outline three groups of suggested interventions going forward: educational strategies, workplace strategies and forcing functions. We stress the importance of ambient and contextual influences on the quality of individual decision making and the need to address factors known to impair calibration of the decision maker. We also emphasise the importance of introducing these concepts and corollary development of training in critical thinking in the undergraduate level in medical education

A crise existencial do Euro

A União Europeia (UE) e em particular a zona euro encontram-se há vários anos enredadas num conjunto de crises de natureza diversa. Uma crise bancária caracterizada pela descapitalização dos bancos e pela desconfiança sobre a sua solvabilidade. Uma crise de dívidas públicas, traduzida na dificuldade de alguns Estados em assegurar as suas necessidades financiamento em condições razoáveis. Uma crise económica e social, marcada pelo desemprego elevado e pelo fraco crescimento económico em vários países. Uma crise institucional, resultante da incapacidade em encontrar soluções atempadas, coerentes e eficazes para as crises referidas.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Portuguese and Brazilian children understanding the inverse relation between quantities: the case of fractions

This study compares Portuguese and Brazilian fourth-graders (n=84) understanding of the inverse relation between quantities when fractions are presented in quotient and part-whole interpretations. It addresses three questions: 1) How do children understand this inverse relation in quotient interpretations of fractions? 2) How do children understand this inverse relation in part-whole interpretation of fractions? 3) Are there differences in performance between Brazilian and Portuguese children concerning these issues? A survey by questionnaire was applied and 16 part-whole and quotient problems were analyzed. Results indicate that quotient interpretation promotes more the understanding of this inverse relation; Portuguese and Brazilian children perform differently when solving the fraction problems.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT), PortugalFundos Nacionais através da FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) e cofinanciado pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) através do COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) com a referência POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007562info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Challenges and opportunities of decarbonization for the economic recovery post-pandemic: The question of directionality in innovation policies

Countries face a double challenge of unprecedented scale consisting in drastically reducing carbon emissions in the time of a generation, while recovering the economy from the worst pandemic crisis in a century. Innovation is key in the response to this double challenge. Innovation policies are increasingly directed at achieving both goals, as governments seek opportunities for transforming the economic structure along with decarbonization. We raise the question of the effect of the direction in the success of the policies for the sustainability transition to achieve the economic transformation. We start by analyzing the processes of change in the economic structure. We identify three possible strategies of transformation: decarbonization, dematerialization and digitalization. Then we compare the evolution of the economic complexity of Portugal, which aspires to transform its economy, with that of three countries that are respectively reference in each one of the three strategies: Denmark, The Netherlands, and Ireland. Successful strategies evidence specialization in products that involve extensive and sophisticated knowledge, produced with high connectivity to other activities and with low carbon footprint. Based on these results and informed by the theory, we propose a set of conditions—related to the promotion of connectivity to growing sectors, high social return technologies and variety— that need to be aligned in the direction of the policies in order to increase their potential for transformative change.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alternative explanations for the euro crisis and their implications

Neste texto discutem-se explicações alternativas para a crise que atingiu a zona euro em 2010-2012. A crise é indissociável da acumulação de desequilíbrios externos entre países membros desde meados dos anos 90. Assim, a explicação para as suas origens tem de passar pela identificação dos mecanismos que contribuíram para a acumulação daqueles desequilíbrios. As diferentes explicações discutidas - a convergência entre economias, as práticas orçamentais, as relações laborais, os fluxos de capitais e os perfis de especialização - não são mutuamente exclusivas. No entanto, os dados disponíveis sugerem que há processos mais relevantes do que outros - e não são os mais óbvios.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Producción de lípidos funcionales y antioxidantes naturales a partir de semillas de maracuyá

The wild passion fruit species Passiflora setacea, Passiflora alata, and Passiflora tenuifila are native to the Brazilian biomass. The seed waste generated from the extraction of passion fruit juice contains functional polyunsaturated fatty acids and phenolic compounds. The aims of this study were to obtain lipids and natural antioxidants from passion fruit seeds. Passion seed oils were extracted using a lab-scale continuous press and their oxidative stability was evaluated using the Rancimat® method. Higher antioxidant extract capacity was observed when using an ethanol-water solution (70:30) at 45 ºC. In these cases, the total phenolic contents expressed as gallic acid equivalents from P. setacea, P. alata, and P. tenuifila cakes were approximately 1800, 600 and 900 mg·100g−1 of extract. Induction periods increased up to two-fold when adding these extracts to their respective seed oil. Therefore, passion fruit seed extract can contribute to increasing the oxidative stability of polyunsaturated oils.Las especies de maracuyá silvestre Passiflora setacea, Passiflora alata y Passiflora tenuifila son nativas de la biomasa brasileña. El desecho de semillas generado después de la extracción del jugo de maracuyá contiene ácidos grasos poliinsaturados funcionales y compuestos fenólicos. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron obtener lípidos y antioxidantes naturales de las semillas de maracuyá. Los aceites de semillas de la pasión se extrajeron usando una prensa continua a escala de laboratorio y su estabilidad oxidativa se evaluó usando el método Rancimat®. Se observó una mayor capacidad antioxidante del extracto cuando se usó una solución de etanol-agua (70:30) a 45 ºC. En estos casos, el contenido fenólico total expresado como equivalentes de ácido gálico de las tortas de P. setacea, P. alata y P. tenuifila fue de aproximadamente 1800, 600 y 900 mg·100g−1 de extracto. Los períodos de inducción aumentaron hasta dos veces al agregar estos extractos a sus respectivos aceites de semillas. Por lo tanto, el extracto de semillas de maracuyá puede contribuir a aumentar la estabilidad oxidativa de los aceites poliinsaturados