Crowdfunding : material incentives and performance

This study addresses a new way to pool financial resources through an open call on the internet – crowdfunding. As this new industry continues to grow and develop, it is important to evaluate its current status and recent developments to try to find clues about the future. The analysis conducted focused on the types of material incentives that crowdfunding platforms use to entice their users to invest and, more specifically, on the relationship between the types of incentives (equity, revenue shares, prizes, interests and donations - no incentives) and the total money raised by the platforms. Findings indicate that the type of incentive used by a crowdfunding platform has a significant impact on the amount of money it raises. Additionally, the most used type of incentive, prizes, is outperformed by other types of incentive in terms of total money raised. Consequently, and also considering recent developments such as the passing of legislation in the United States regarding crowdfunding, evidence suggests that crowdfunding could become an important alternative source of financing for startups and small companies. It is important for both investors and capital seekers to learn about the viability of crowdfunding as an alternative that allows both parts to generate significant income – or “for-profit crowdfunding”

Does the mixed company model provide value for money? An analysis of different local infrastucture sectors

This paper looks at the use of institutionalised public‐private partnership (PPP) arrangements by local governments for the delivery of different types of infrastructure. It starts by analysing the mixed company model from a theoretical point of view, in particular the potential for internal regulation and the achievement of relational agreements. Then, after discussing the practicalities of crafting this type of governance structure, the examination of four Portuguese case‐studies is provided. The empirical evidence on mixed companies operating in the water, waste, transportation and education sectors shows that the extreme complexity involved in the whole life‐cycle management of these companies, usually leads to poor outcomes from a social welfare point of view

Índices de governança municipal : utilidade e exequibilidade

Comunicação apresentada no 8º Congresso Nacional de Administração Pública – Desafios e Soluções, em Carcavelos de 21 a 22 de Novembro de 2011.A convicção de que a “boa governança” no sector público é particularmente importante para o bem-estar geral é cada vez mais reconhecida pela literatura. Por conseguinte, desenvolver metodologias que permitam medir empiricamente a qualidade da governança nos diversos níveis da administração pública é um tema que tem interesse académico e, ao mesmo tempo, relevância para o “mundo real”. Até à data, os esforços que têm sido feitos neste campo dão primazia ao nível do estado central ou focalizam-se em casos de estudo locais de países em vias de desenvolvimento. No presente artigo defende-se que a construção de indicadores de governança municipal pode ter utilidade em países desenvolvidos. Este estudo pretende ser o ponto de partida de uma investigação que tem como objectivo desenvolver um indicador de governança municipal a ser aplicado aos municípios Portugueses

EVOLUÇÃO DO NORMATIVO CONTABILÍSTICO PARA ENTIDADES DO SETOR NÃO LUCRATIVO NA PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA

As organizações sem fim lucrativo, de Portugal e Espanha, utilizaram durante muitos o referencial contabilístico próprio das entidades com objectivos lucrativos na preparação e elaboração das demonstrações financeiras. Sensivelmente a partir da última década do século XX começaram a existir alguns planos para determinados sectores, adaptados do referencial aplicável às entidades lucrativas. A segunda década do século XXI fica marcada pela criação e aplicação de um regime normativo para as Entidades do Setor Não Lucrativo. Neste artigo analisamos a evolução do normativo contabilístico que foi vigorando para estas entidades, ao longo dos tempos, na Península Ibérica.The non-profit organizations, in Portugal and Spain, used for many years the accounting standards of the profit entities to prepare and elaborate the financial statements. Nearly since the last decade of the twentieth century, some accounting plans for specific sectors were created, adapting the ones applied to profit entities. The second decade of the current century is marked by the creation and implementation of the accounting standards for the Nonprofit Sector Entities. This paper analyzes the evolution of accounting standards for these entities, over time, in the Iberian Peninsula

The costs and benefits of packaging waste management systems in Europe: the perspective of local authorities

Local authorities are generally in charge of household packaging waste management operations, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the packaging industry and the local authorities (regarding the costs involved in selective collection and sorting). In the present study, the costs and benefits of recycling from the perspective of local authorities are compared for Portugal, Belgium and Italy (in Lombardia region), adopting the same economic-financial methodology. The results show that the industry is not paying the net cost of packaging waste management. If the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment operations are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities. However, if the avoided costs with other treatment are considered as a benefit for local authorities, the costs are generally outweighed by the benefits and the financial support could, therefore, be reduced

Packaging waste recycling in Europe: is the industry paying for it?

This paper describes and examines the schemes established in five EU countries for the recycling of packaging waste. The changes in packaging waste management were mainly implemented since the Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste entered into force. The analysis of the five systems allowed the authors to identify very different approaches to cope with the same problem: meet the recovery and recycling targets imposed by EU law. Packaging waste is a responsibility of the industry. However, local governments are generally in charge of waste management, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the industry and the local governments (particularly regarding the extra costs involved with selective collection and sorting). Using the same methodological approach, the authors also compare the costs and benefits of recycling from the perspective of local public authorities for France, Portugal and Romania. Since the purpose of the current paper is to take note of who is paying for the incremental costs of recycling and whether the industry (i.e. the consumer) is paying for the net financial costs of packaging waste management, environmental impacts are not included in the analysis. The work carried out in this paper highlights some aspects that are prone to be improved and raises several questions that will require further research. In the three countries analyzed more closely in this paper the industry is not paying the net financial cost of packaging waste management. In fact, if the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment (e.g. landfilling) and the public subsidies to the investment on the “recycling system” are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities (by 125% in France, 50% in Portugal and 170% in Romania). However, in France and Portugal the industry is paying local authorities more than just the incremental costs of recycling (full costs of selective collection and sorting minus the avoided costs). To provide a more definitive judgment on the fairness of the systems it will be necessary to assess the cost efficiency of waste management operators (and judge whether operators are claiming costs or eliciting “prices”)

NCRF-ESNL: comparação entre Portugal e Espanha

Este artigo apresenta-se particularmente relevante e atual, dado o nível do crescimento e diversificação das Entidades do Setor Não Lucrativo (ESNL). Este trabalho tem como objetivo a comparação do normativo contabilístico aplicável às ESNL entre Portugal e Espanha. Cremos que as normas recentemente aprovadas significam um passo importante na homogeneização e adaptação das normas de contabilidade para as ESNL e julgamos que contribuirão para a melhoria da qualidade e da transparência da informação financeira destas entidades. Ao contrário do concluído em estudo anterior sobre as Estruturas Concetuais vigentes para este tipo de entidades, nos dois países, consideramos que ainda não existe harmonização ao nível do normativo contabilístico entre Portugal e Espanha

Life cycle assessment and valuation of the packaging waste recycling system in Belgium

This study analyses the packaging waste management system in Belgium. Waste management operations involve a significant number of processes associated with energy consumption and emission of pollutants in air and water. To assess the impact on the environment of the several waste management operations, a life cycle assessment was developed. The operations of selective and refuse collection, sorting, recycling and incineration of packaging waste were considered. A comparison between two scenarios was developed. The first scenario comprised the packaging waste management system in operation in 2010. This system comprises the waste management operations envisaging the recycling of the packaging materials. The second scenario was developed based on the hypothesis that there was no recycling system and all packaging waste would be collected in the refuse collection system. An environmental valuation was performed to convert the environmental results into a common unit (EUR). To accomplish this valuation, three methods were used: Ecocost, Ecovalue and Stepwise. These methods were developed in Europe and follow different methodologies. The environmental results were compared using the three methods and they were consistent with the conclusion that the recycling scenario (i.e. the actual situation in 2010) is more environmentally sound

Economic viability of packaging waste recycling systems: a comparison between Belgium and Portugal

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has had an undeniable impact on waste management throughout the European Union. Whereas recycling and recovery targets are the same, member states still enjoy a considerable degree of freedom with respect to the practical organization and management strategies adopted. Nevertheless, in all cases, the industry (which brings packaging material onto the market) should be responsible for the costs associated with packaging waste recycling/recovery (following the extended producer responsibility principle). The current paper compares and contrasts the institutional frameworks and financial costs and benefits of waste management operators for Belgium and Portugal. The unit costs of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste are provided for both countries. In Belgium, the costs of recycling seem to be fully supported by the industry (through Fost Plus, the national Green Dot agency). In Portugal the fairness of the recycling system depends on the perspective adopted (economic or strictly financial). Adopting a strictly financial perspective, it seems that Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, the Portuguese Green Dot agency) should increase the transfers to local authorities. However, the conclusions differ for this country if the avoided costs with refuse collection and other treatment are taken into account

TempuSpacium Didática das Ciências Sociais - Estudos I

A educação para os media é, em geral, entendida enquanto etapa e meio para a educação para a cidadania. Nas suas diversas formas, os media, estão presentes, desde bem cedo, na vida das pessoas e, por isso, são determinantes na formação de cidadãos. No entanto, o efeito dos media é qualitativamente muito diferente em função dos grupos sociais e das desiguais capacidades dos recetores e utilizadores para aceder e fazer escolhas face ao enorme acervo de informação e de ofertas disponíveis através dos referidos media. Estas evidências acentuam a necessidade de a escola reforçar, criativa e permanentemente, o seu papel de facilitador na utilização das imensas possibilidades oferecidas pelos media, promovendo uma educação para escolhas valorativamente ponderadas face aos seus conteúdos. Não parece que tal esteja a acontecer de modo significativo