Varieties, Jobs and EU Enlargement

Two key factors that have so far allowed fast growing economies of central and eastern Europe to cope with their external constraint have been I) the presence of relatively low unit labour costs and ii)the initial undervaluation of the exchange rate. The accession to the EU will inevitably reduce both sources of competitiveness of eastern European exports: real wages are likely to catch-up western European levels and current EU members are pushing these countries to enforce labour market and social regulations that will increase labour costs; moreover, stability of the exchange rate will be a precondition for the negotiations over the accession to proceed. Small open economies can grow faster than their neighbours without running into a balance of payment crises if they succeed in increasing the number of differentiated goods produced domestically. The multiplication of the number of varieties in these countries after trade liberalisation is an unambiguous sign that consumers coming from the empty shelves of the pre-transition era have a strong taste for varieties, and hence that new varieties can create their own demand. But the increase in the number of varieties will involve a furthering of the worker reallocation process as production is still largely concentrated in homogenous good and scale-intensive industries and enterprise density is significantly lower than in western Europe. This paper will start by reviewing the changing profile and orientation of trade in transitional economies of central and eastern Europe. Next, developments in enterprise density and the performance of greenfield vs. state and privatised firms will be reviewed in an attempt to assess barriers to the entry and growth of small business. Finally, numerical simulations of a model will be developed which enables to assess the likely impact on employment, unemployment and gross worker flows of reductions in start-up costs.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39685/3/wp301.pd

Varieties, Jobs and EU Enlargement

Two key factors that have so far allowed fast growing economies of central and eastern Europe to cope with their external constraint have been I) the presence of relatively low unit labour costs and ii)the initial undervaluation of the exchange rate. The accession to the EU will inevitably reduce both sources of competitiveness of eastern European exports: real wages are likely to catch-up western European levels and current EU members are pushing these countries to enforce labour market and social regulations that will increase labour costs; moreover, stability of the exchange rate will be a precondition for the negotiations over the accession to proceed. Small open economies can grow faster than their neighbours without running into a balance of payment crises if they succeed in increasing the number of differentiated goods produced domestically. The multiplication of the number of varieties in these countries after trade liberalisation is an unambiguous sign that consumers coming from the empty shelves of the pre-transition era have a strong taste for varieties, and hence that new varieties can create their own demand. But the increase in the number of varieties will involve a furthering of the worker reallocation process as production is still largely concentrated in homogenous good and scale-intensive industries and enterprise density is significantly lower than in western Europe. This paper will start by reviewing the changing profile and orientation of trade in transitional economies of central and eastern Europe. Next, developments in enterprise density and the performance of greenfield vs. state and privatised firms will be reviewed in an attempt to assess barriers to the entry and growth of small business. Finally, numerical simulations of a model will be developed which enables to assess the likely impact on employment, unemployment and gross worker flows of reductions in start-up costs.transition economies, product variety, trade specialisation

Growth, Reform Indicators and Policy Complementaries

This paper discusses the design of structural policies by relating second-best results and the complementarity of reforms. It computes a complementarity index based on structural reform indicators compiled by the EBRD for transition countries, assuming that the run-up to EU integration corresponds to a nearly complete policy cycle. Using econometric panel estimates, the level of reforms and changes in their complementarity are found to be positively related to output growth, corrected for endogeneity, and given initial conditions and the extent of macroeconomic stabilisation.

Growth, Reform indicators and Policy complementarities

This paper discusses the design of structural policies by relating second-best results and the complementarity of reforms. It computes a complementarity index based on structural reform indicators compiled by the EBRD for transition countries, assuming that the run-up to EU integration corresponds to a nearly complete policy cycle. Using econometric panel estimates, the level of reforms and changes in their complementarity are found to be positively related to output growth, corrected for endogeneity, and given initial conditions and the extent of macroeconomic stabilisation.

Growth, Reform Indicators and Policy Complementarities.

In order to assess the growth implications of policy complementarities, this paper applies second-best results to reform indicators. During the transition from central planning to EU integration, which corresponds to a policy cycle, a complementarity index based on structural indicators compiled by the European Bank for Reconstruc- tion and Development (EBRD) decreases and then increases while the level of reforms tends to rise throughout. Corrected for initial conditions, the extent of macroeconomic stabilization and endogeneity, the level of reforms and changes in their complementarity are found to be positively related to output growth. The study uses panel data for 27 countries between 1989 and 2004.Second-best; complementarity; structural reforms; reform indicators; economic growth; transition; panel data;

Complex in vitro models: do not complicate it

The physiologically relevant and mimetic in vitro 3D models of tissues and organs, the so-called complex in vitro models (CIVMs), can be grouped into extracellular matrix (ECM)-independent models and ECM-dependent models.J.M.O. thanks the financial support provided through the project HEALTH-UNORTE (ref. NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000039) funded by the Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), under the NORTE2020 Program. The author also thanks to the EU-funded ONCOSCREEN project (grant agreement ID: 101097036)

WORKSHOP ON SOME PROSPECTIVE ASPECTS IN MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

Constantino Lagoa: In this talk, we discuss some preliminary results on a general approach to chance constrained algebraic problems. In this type of problems, one aims at maximizing the probability of a set defined by polynomial inequalities. This class of problems is quite general and includes many problems in control systems where the system of interest is subject to stochastic disturbances and/or random uncertainty. Maximizing probability of a semialgebraic set is, in general, non-convex and computationally complex. With the objective of developing systematic numerical procedures to solve such problems, a sequence of convex relaxations is provided, whose optimal value is shown to converge to solution of the original problem. In other words, we provide a sequence of convex (semidefinite) programs of increasing dimension and complexity which can arbitrarily approximate the solution of the probability maximization problem. ### Maria do Rosário Ramos: Hidden Markov Models (HMM) form a class of stochastic process models with a wide range of application in signal processing like speech recognition, image processing, telecommunications, and others like finance and protein research. HMM extend the Markov model s to include the case where the observation is a probabilistic function of the state. The model is based on a Markov chain {Xi} which describes the evolution of a state of a system. Given a realized sequence of state variables {xi}, the observed variables {Yt} are conditionally independent, with a distribution law in each xi. In this talk we will review the three main questions that we can ask about an HMM, and some results for their existence. The Maximum Likelihood Estimation for a HMM is addressed, the difficulties that arise when we try to solve this optimization problem for a given a sequence of observations of {Yt} and unknown parameters. The focus will be the trade off between the maximum likelihood and number of states of the underlying Markov Model, for particular output process. This is joint work with M. Oliveira (UÉ) and Lagoa, C. (Penn State, USA). ### Fernando Costa: We consider a model of cluster annihilation, and point out its difference relative to more common models of cluster coagulation and fragmentation, such as Smoluchowski’s equation. WE briefly present some recent results on the behaviour of solutions and point to some work still in progress. This is joint work with J.T.Pinto (IST) and R. Sasportes (UAb). ### Joaquim Correia: As nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations have non unique global solutions, I am concerned with two, related, issues: what about physical solutions? and when can we use such a type of equations

Sandy Soils Improvement in Brazil

Designing geotechnical projects requires greater attention due to the importance of sustaining the building and transmission of loads to the ground. In this way, geotechnologies have been developed toward guaranteeing security and lowering cost for a building, as some methods of soil improvement to make shallow foundations feasible. The objective of this work is to present selected methods of sandy soils improvement in Northeastern Brazil, verifying the most common compaction columns in the region. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the technical feasibility of a new method of compacting sandy soils: terra-probe without material introduction. As a result of applying this technique, the treated massif obtained an increase in resistance and, consequently, an increase in its load capacity, as well as reduced the foundations settlements significantly

Da justiça dos tribunais à barra da opinião pública : as relações entre a justiça e a comunicação social

Texto elaborado no contexto do projecto colectivo de investigação Mediascópio – Estudo sobre a reconfiguração do campo da comunicação e dos media em Portugal.Quando, em Novembro de 2002, uma reportagem de Felícia Cabrita (Expresso/SIC) revelou um escandaloso crime que atravessou duas décadas, estávamos ainda longe de saber que assistiríamos a um dos mais mediáticos processos judiciais em Portugal. No entanto, o modo como os factos deste affaire de pedofilia alcançaram o domínio público cedo fez antever que se despertaria de novo o debate em torno das relações entre a Justiça e a Comunicação Social. Se o final do século XX tinha sido abundante em casos judiciários de inequívoco interesse público, os últimos cinco anos consolidaram definitivamente a complexidade desta matéria. Atravessados pela problemática da dualidade de relação entre a justiça e os media, os diversos casos judiciais mediatizados no quinquénio 2000-2004 tornaram explícito o confronto entre dois campos simultaneamente autónomos e confluentes, quer no que respeita, a nível global, à lógica de funcionamento, quer no que concerne, a nível específico, à acção dos seus protagonistas. Mantendo, por um lado, uma indispensável convivência e, por outro, a necessária independência, magistrados e jornalistas cruzam-se no interesse por um mesmo objecto – o conflito ou a dissonância –, mas os campos em que agem (o judicial e o mediático) são obrigados a preservar a respectiva autonomia e a evitar que os objectivos, estratégias e instrumentos de trabalho específicos de um e de outro se confundam.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Engineering graduation projects in a transdisciplinary approach

This paper presents some project themes proposed by the authors and the methodology adopted in its supervision, in a transdisciplinary approach. We describe the projects and discuss the most relevant aspects of this approach, from the technical and pedagogical points of view. The stronger points of this methodology are some similarities with the environment that recent graduated students might find in the employment market. Balancing the pros and cons we conclude that due to the project interdependencies, benefits are mainly on technical skills improvement and in mutual responsibilities to accomplish tasks on schedule