Fiscal multipliers and non-separable preferences in a small open economy model

In Euro area countries fiscal policy plays a central role in the stabilization of business cycles mainly because monetary policy is defined for the whole area. A small open economy model is employed to assess the consequences of government expenditure shocks. The main novelty of this thesis is the inclusion of non-separable preferences between private consumption and government expenditure. Numerical simulation suggests that fiscal policy is more e↵ective in a fixed exchange regime. In this regime, fiscal multipliers reach 1.6% on impact and 1% in the long-run.Nos países da zona Euro a política orçamental tem um papel chave na estabilização dos ciclos económicos principalmente porque a política monetária é definida para o conjunto das economias. Um modelo de pequenas economias abertas é utilizado para avaliar as consequências de um choque nos gastos do governo. O contributo principal desta tese é a introdução de preferências não separáveis entre o consumo privado e os gastos do Estado. Uma simulação numérica sugere que a política orçamental é mais eficaz num regime de câmbios fixos. Neste regime, os multiplicadores orçamentais atingem 1.6% no impacto e 1% no longo praz

Sistemas de Recomendação para Grupos

O presente trabalho é um levantamento de conceitos e do estado da arte das principais abordagens e metodologias envolvidas no desenvolvimento de sistemas de recomendação individuais e para grupos. Este levantamento é um estudo prévio, de extrema importância, como ponto de partida para a realização de futuros trabalhos, com o objetivo de desenvolver novas abordagens na área de recomendação para grupos

Mantle dynamics and volcanism emplacement in the Azores

The Azores plateau is a triangular shaped topographic feature encompassing the boundary zone where three major tectonic plates (EU, NU and NA) meet. The eastern side of the plateau is delimited by two major tectonic discontinuities: the Mid Atlantic Ridge, and the Terceira Rift, a recently formed ultra-slow-spreading ridge. The origin of the plateau is still under debate. One hypothesis argues that the plateau would have been formed by successive NE jumps of the oblique spreading axis, where the present TR is the latest stage. Other hypotheses invoke the northward jump of the Azores triple junction, during which the Azores region would have been transferred from the Eurasian plate to the Nubian plate. For some authors, the presence of the Azores plume, a low seismic velocity zone in the mantle beneath, is required to explain the observations: the anomalously shallow seafloor depth as well as the geochemistry of the basaltic lavas erupted within the plateau. Here we use a highly resolved tomography model to quantify the influence of this plume and the surrounding mantle.We model the convection pattern, the induced dynamic topography and stresses, and compare them with the surface observations. The dynamic topography shows two maxima: one northwest of St. Miguel, the other encompassing the Terceira, Graciosa, S. Jorge, Faial and Pico islands. Both swells are approximately located on the Terceira Ridge. The convection pattern displays two distinct upwelling towards these two groups of Islands. This may explain the difference in the geochemical signatures, in particular the unique isotopic ratios observed in some lavas from S. Miguel. The stresses induced by the underlying mantle convection are compared with the surface observations (topographic features, seismic and GPS velocities). The modeled and observed tresses fairly correlate west of our study area but their directions depart east

A responsabilidade social nas organizações do Alto Alentejo

A globalização trouxe vantagens e desvantagens para as sociedades, verificandose, no entanto, que nas últimas décadas houve uma degradação das condições socioeconómicas dos cidadãos e uma degradação ambiental acentuada. Desta forma, tem-se tornado mais premente a alteração da forma de gerir as organizações, tornando a responsabilidade social (RS), principalmente das empresas, uma matéria de estudo contínuo e acentuado por todo o mundo, tendo em conta a importância que a mesma pode ter na melhoria das sociedades em geral e na preservação do planeta. Assim, numa altura em que vivemos duas crises mundiais seguidas, e verificando a crescente implementação das práticas de responsabilidade social nas organizações por todo o mundo, promovida por várias instâncias internacionais, desde a Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU) à União Europeia (UE), parece fazer todo o sentido conhecer a realidade das práticas de responsabilidade social nas organizações do Alto Alentejo, e contribuir para a divulgação da RS nesta região. Do resultado do nosso estudo podemos verificar que ainda existe pouca sensibilidade para estas questões, mas que nas organizações que aplicam a responsabilidade social predominam as práticas (políticas e programas) relacionadas com a comunidade, e com o ambiente, em linha com outros estudos realizados neste âmbitoGlobalization has brought benefits and losses for societies, however, in recente decades there has been a deterioration in the socio-economic conditions of citizens and a marked environmental degradation. Therefore, it has become more urgent to change the way of manage organizations, making social responsibility, mainly to companies, a matter of continuous and accentuated study all over the world, considering the importance that it can improve societies in general and preserve the planet. Now that we are experiencing two global crises in a row, and seeing the growing implementation of social responsibility practices in organizations around the world, promoted by several international bodies, from the United Nations (UN) to the European Union (EU), it seems to make perfect sense to know the reality of social responsibility practices in the organizations of Alto Alentejo, and contribute to its dissemination in this region. From the result of our case study, we can see that still exist little sensitivity to these issues, but in organizations that apply social responsibility practices (policies and programs) prevail those related to the community and the environment, in line with other studies carried out in this area

The “WiFi4EU” in light of the European Competition regime

The “WiFi4EU” initiative is a proposal for regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, which amends Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014, each of them on the promotion of Internet connectivity in local communities. This initiative aims to ensure that all Member States of the European Union create high-quality wireless internet access points throughout their territory to combat digital illiteracy and ensure access to healthcare, administrative services, and online commerce. With the following resolution, hospitals, libraries, monuments, museums, and parks will have a public signal available. Therefore, the proposal has a very strong social dimension, since it aims to broaden the internet signal to citizens who live near municipal areas and whose economic statuses are lacking. With a three-year implementation period, the initiative falls within the scope of the Single Digital Market, which is a major political objective and a way for the European Union to attract investments from large economic agents through the “Internet of Things”. It is therefore relevant to give some context and analyze the initiative through the eyes of the Union’s principles and of the notions of competition and regulation, which areessential to the European Union

Study on guardrail post behavior located on organic soil using simplified experimental and numerical methods

For the purpose of road safety, it is vital to reduce the severity of road accidents and increase safety around the roadway area by deploying guardrails. In case of a car crash, a guardrail post must be deformable so that such restraint is not too abrupt due to the occupant’s sensitivity. Soil type influences on the guardrail post behavior have been a somewhat unfounded variable due to the high soil heterogeneity and challenging interpretation of its real implications on the safety of guardrail systems. Since little attention is concentrated on evaluating the guardrail post behavior through simplified procedures, this article aims to provide a simplified experimental and numerical approach to study the behavior of guardrail posts located on organic soil. Results of laboratory and in-situ tests indicated that guardrail posts behavior located on organic soil depends on section orientation, driving depth, and loading speed. To confirm and compare the in-situ tests, simplified numerical simulations through Plaxis 3D software were carried out, and data from numerical modeling approved the accuracy of in-situ results.The authors acknowledge the financial support by FCT / MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020; and ANI through national funds (Portugal 2020), under project “BARROD - Barreiras de Segurança Rodoviária”, reference 33497

Event monitoring in a small and business enterprise

This paper presents an overview of the role and responsibilities of the system administrator, focusing on the need to monitor its technological infrastructure. The informatics infrastructure monitoring is, nowadays without a doubt, one of the main key points in business support. Large enterprises are no longer the only ones to feel the need to use these monitoring tools, but small and medium-sized enterprises, which also have IT environments of an increasing complexity, feel such a need. This results directly from the operation of how the business is supported on IT platforms as support for people and processes. When a system, which is vital to the organization, fails either at the hardware or software level, compromises the operating capacity and consequently the business continuity. Having this always in mind, it is extremely important to adopt monitoring systems that proactively or reactively, reduce the overall time of breaks caused by failures. A monitoring system is the way to ensure confidence in all components and the operational readiness of IT infrastructure

Thirty years of entrepreneurship research published in top journals: analysis of citations, co-citations and themes

Entrepreneurship research has increased markedly over the past three decades. In this paper we conduct a large scale survey of the literature beyond a subjective perspective on what entrepreneurship research has comprised. We investigate what have been the intellectual structure and the knowledge base underlying published entrepreneurship research. Moreover, we also conduct a longitudinal analysis of the main research themes that have caught scholars’ efforts. Using bibliometric techniques on a sample of 1,777 articles published in 17 top ranked journals, between 1981 and 2010, we conduct analyses of citations, co-citations and co-occurrences to examine the most central works, themes and how they intertwine. Results provide evidence of the increasing interest in entrepreneurship as a field of study, but also of its interdisciplinary nature, with infusions of concepts and theories from a wide array of management disciplines. This paper provides a brief but extensive rear view of the field useful for both doctoral students and newcomers to the discipline develop their own research agendas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Constitutive behaviour of a clay stabilised with alkali-activated cement based on blast furnace slag

Alkaline cements have been extensively tested for soil stabilisation in the last decade. However, only a few studies have focused on the assessment of such performance by establishing the constitutive behaviour of the cement. In this paper, we focus on the mechanical behaviour, using triaxial testing of a clay with high water content stabilised with an alkali-activated binder and the subsequent prediction of the experimental stress–strain response using a kinematic hardening constitutive model initially developed for natural clays. Monotonic consolidated undrained triaxial tests were conducted on reconstituted and stabilised clay specimens cured for 28 days to evaluate the effects of cementation on the overall shear behaviour. Alkali-activated binder was synthetised from blast furnace slag and sodium hydroxide. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were performed to study the microstructure, whereas leachate analyses were performed after 28 and 90 days of curing to investigate the contamination potential. The main product formed was calcium aluminosilicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) with a low CaO/SiO2 ratio, and no risk of soil contamination was found. The compressibility and undrained shear strength in the pre-yield state was found to be independent of the initial mean effective stress (p’0), unlike what was observed in the post-yield state, where the shear strength seemed to be affected by p’0. The model provided reliable predictions of the experimental results and captured the main features of the artificially cemented clay for the tested p’0 range. Such studies are fundamental to establish adequate confidence in such alternative binders—an essential aspect if their use is to become widespread in the near future.This work was funded by the Project “MINECO- New Eco-innovative Materials for Mining Infra” with reference ERA-MIN/0002/2018 and by a Ph.D. scholarship with reference SFRH/BD/132692/2017 financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Social Fund (FSE)