Managers and wage policies

We investigate the effects of individual top managers on wages and wage policies. A large longitudinal administrative dataset from Portugal allows us to match workers,firms and top managers, and follow the movements of the latter across different firms over time. We estimate the role of top manager fixed-effects in determining wages and wage policies, while also accounting for the effect of worker and firm heterogeneity. Our results reveal that top managers have a significant influence on wages, the returns to schooling and tenure, the gender wage gap, and the extent of rent sharing. Further-more, they point to the existence of managerial styles in the setting of wage policies. Finally, we relate worker compensation to observable managerial attributes, and find that returns to schooling tend to be higher in firms led by more educated top executives, while longer-tenured managers appear on average to engage in more rent sharing.Top managers, wage policies, linked worker-firm-manager data.

Firm Heterogeneity and Wages in Unionised Labour Markets: Theory and Evidence

In many countries wages are set in two stages, where industry-level collective bargaining is followed by firm-specific arrangements determining actual paid wages as a mark-up on the industry wage floor. What explains the wage set in each of these stages? In this paper we show that both the industry wage floor and the average wage cushion are systematically associated with the degree of firm heterogeneity in the industry: The former (latter) is negatively (positively) associated with the productivity spread. Furthermore, since the response of the wage floor dominates that of the wage cushion, workers in more heterogeneous industries tend to get lower actual paid wages. These conclusions are reached in a model of Cournot oligopoly with firm productivity heterogeneity and a two-tiered wage setting system. They are then confirmed by administrative data covering virtually all workers, firms and collective bargaining agreements of the Portuguese private sector for the period 1991-2000.Wage determination; Trade unions; Firm heterogeneity

Foreign acquisition and internal organization

NIPE WP 05/2016We study the effect of foreign takeovers on firm organization. Using a comprehensive data set of Portuguese firms and workers spanning two decades, we find that foreign acquisitions lead to: (1) an expansion in the scale of operations; (2) a higher number of hierarchical layers; (3) increased span of control among top managers; and (4) increased wage inequality across layers. These results accord with a theory of knowledge-based hierarchies in which foreign takeovers improve management practices and reduce communication costs within the acquired firms. Evidence from auxiliary survey data provides support to this mechanism by suggesting that acquired firms are more likely to use information technologies that reduce internal communication costs.Compete 2020, Portugal 2020, FEDER, FC

Foreign acquisition and internal organization

We study the effect of foreign takeovers on firm organization. Using a comprehensive data set of Portuguese firms and workers spanning two decades, we find that foreign acquisitions lead to: (1) an expansion in the scale of operations; (2) a higher number of hierarchical layers; and (3) higher wage inequality between the top and bottom layers. These results accord with a theory of knowledge-based hierarchies in which foreign takeovers lead to improved productivity, higher demand, or reduced internal communication costs, and thereby induce the acquired firms to reorganize. Evidence from auxiliary survey data reveals that acquired firms are more likely to use information technologies that reduce internal communication costs. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.We are grateful to two anonymous referees for detailed comments and suggestions that greatly improved the paper. We also thank participants at several seminars and conferences for useful comments and suggestions, and we thank Ministerio do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Seguranca Social and Institute Nacional de Estatistica for allowing access to data from Quadros de Pessoal and Inquerito Utilizacao de Tecnologias da Informacao e da Comunicação nas Empresas. This work was carried out within the funding with COMPETE reference number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006683, with the FCT/MEC's (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.) financial support through national funding and by the ERDF through the Operational Programme on Competitiveness and Internationalization COMPETE 2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. Research for this paper was also supported in part by the World Bank's Multidonor Trust Fund for Trade and Development and through the Strategic Research Program on Economic Development. The views expressed herein are those of the authors only and not those of the World Bank. We remain responsible for any errors

Mitochondrial membrane lipid remodeling in pathophysiology: A new target for diet and therapeutic interventions

Mitochondria are arbiters in the fragile balance between cell life and death. These organelles present an intricate membrane system, with a peculiar lipid composition and displaying transverse as well as lateral asymmetry. Some lipids are synthesized inside mitochondria, while others have to be imported or acquired in the form of precursors. Here, we review different processes, including external interventions (e.g., diet) and a range of biological events (apoptosis, disease and aging), which may result in alterations of mitochondrial membrane lipid content. Cardiolipin, the mitochondria lipid trademark, whose biosynthetic pathway is highly regulated, will deserve special attention in this review. The modulation of mitochondrial membrane lipid composition, especially by diet, as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of some pathologies will be also addressed.Work at the authors laboratory is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER/COMPETE (research Grants PTDC-QUI-QUI-101409-2008; PTDC/QUI-BIQ/ 103001/2008 and Pest-C/SAU/LA0001/2013-2014). J.P.M. acknowledges FCT for Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/37626/2007

Conservation Management of EU Priority Habitats after Collapse of Traditional Pastoralism: Navigating Socioecological Transitions in Mountain Rangeland

Agricultural abandonment is a major driver of change in rural landscapes. Assumed to provide beneficial results to the environment and the conservation of biota, rural abandonment triggers landscape and biotic homogenization and loss of valuable species and habitats. This article focuses on the ecological effects and conservation challenges of shifts in extensive grazing regimes on marginal pastureland of Mediterranean mountains. We conceptualize a navigated socioecological transition toward conservation-oriented management after the collapse of historical land systems. The article provides examples from the LIFE+ project “Higro,” developed in mountainous protected areas in Portugal, of how management for conservation could sustain disturbance-dependent habitats. We argue that actively and regularly managing large habitat areas should be envisaged as a short-term approach to limit the immediate effects of rural abandonment. A gradual integration of conservation targets with other activities in changing rural economies is necessary to foster long-term conservation of species and habitats, building on the link between conservation-oriented habitat management and ecosystem services in rural landscapes. Conservation goals should run alongside recovery of social systems and innovation applied to traditional sources of income. This parallel development would contribute to building up social-ecological resilience by maintaining a diversity of social and ecological capital in rural areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quality monitoring of biodiesel and diesel/biodiesel blends: a comparison between benchtop FT-NIR versus a portable miniaturized NIR spectroscopic analysis

A methodology such as near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, which enables in situ and in real-time analysis, is crucial to perform quality control of biodiesel, since it is blended into diesel fuel and the presence of contaminants can hinder its performance. This work aimed to compare the performance of a benchtop Fourier Transform (FT) NIR spectrometer with a prototype of a portable, miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer (miniNIR) to detect and quantify contaminants in biodiesel and biodiesel in diesel. In general, good models based on principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) of FT-NIR spectra were obtained, predicting with high accuracies biodiesel contaminants and biodiesel in diesel (between 75% to 95%), as well as good partial least square (PLS) regression models to predict contaminants concentration in biodiesel and biodiesel concentration in diesel/biodiesel blends, with high coefficients of determination (between 0.83 and 0.99) and low prediction errors. The miniNIR prototype’s PCA-LDA models enabled the prediction of target contaminants with good accuracies (between 66% and 86%), and a PLS model enabled the prediction of biodiesel concentration in diesel with a reasonable coefficient of determination (0.68), pointing to the device’s potential for preliminary analysis of biodiesel which, associated with its potential low cost and portability, could increase biodiesel quality control.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Joint Carrier-Phase Estimation for Digital Subcarrier Multiplexing Systems With Symbol-Rate Optimization

Digital subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) has recently emerged as a promising solution for next-generation ultra-high-baudrate coherent optical communication systems. Among its distinctive advantages over traditional single-carrier modulation, SCM enables the exploitation of symbol-rate optimization (SRO), which has been shown to enable the passive mitigation of the nonlinear interference noise (NLIN) that is generated during propagation over dispersion-unmanaged optical fiber systems. However, the full exploitation of SRO-based NLIN mitigation is severely hindered by the uncompensated distortion caused by laser phase noise (LPN) and non-linear phase noise (NLPN), whose impact is magnified by the use of low-baudrate subcarriers. Resorting to low-complexity carrier phase estimation (CPE) algorithms, in this paper we experimentally demonstrate that it is possible to overcome the hurdles posed by LPN and NLPN in SCM systems, provided that adequate joint-subcarrier CPE processing is employed. A dual-stage joint-processing approach composed of a pilot-based CPE optionally followed by a blind phase search (BPS)-based estimator is implemented and experimentally assessed, enabling to effectively optimize the symbol-rate per subcarrier down to 3 GBaud, in accordance with the theoretical SRO predictions for the system under test. In addition, we demonstrate that signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gains of more than 1 dB can be achieved through joint-subcarrier CPE processing in shorter-reach links, while this gain tends to progressively reduce with increasing propagation distance, down to about 0.5 dB gain after 3000 km propagation

Rapeseed oil-rich diet alters in vitro menadione and nimesulide hepatic mitochondrial toxicity

Diet-induced changes in the lipid composition of mitochondrial membranes have been shown to influence physiological processes. However, the modulation effect of diet on mitochondrially-active drugs has not yet received the deserved attention. Our hypothesis is that modulation of membrane dynamics by diet impacts drug-effects on liver mitochondrial functioning. In a previous work, we have shown that a diet rich in rapeseed oil altered mitochondrial membrane composition and bioenergetics in Wistar rats. In the present work, we investigated the influence of the modified diet on hepatic mitochondrial activity of two drugs, menadione and nimesulide, and FCCP, a classic protonophore, was used for comparison. The results showed that the effects of menadione and nimesulide were less severe on liver mitochondria for rats fed the modified diet than on rats fed the control diet. A specific effect on complex I seemed to be involved in drug-induced mitochondria dysfunction. Liver mitochondria from the modified diet group were more susceptible to nimesulide effects on MPT induction. The present work demonstrates that diet manipulation aimed at modifying mitochondrial membrane properties alters the toxicity of mitochondria active agents. This work highlights that diet may potentiate mitochondrial pharmacologic effects or increase drug-induced liabilities.The project was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) with FEDER/COMPETE/National Budget funds (research grants PTDC/QUI-QUI/101409/2008 to P.J.O., PTDC/QUI-BIQ/103001/2008 to A.S.J. and PEst-C/SAU/LA0001/ 2013-2014 to the CNC). J.P.M. and A.M.S acknowledge FCT for Ph.D. grants SFRH/BD/37626/2007 and PTDC/AGR-ALI/108326/ 2008 respectively

SheepIT, an E-Shepherd System for Weed Control in Vineyards: Experimental Results and Lessons Learned

Weed control in vineyards demands regular interventions that currently consist of the use of machinery, such as plows and brush-cutters, and the application of herbicides. These methods have several drawbacks, including cost, chemical pollution, and the emission of greenhouse gases. The use of animals to weed vineyards, usually ovines, is an ancestral, environmentally friendly, and sustainable practice that was abandoned because of the scarcity and cost of shepherds, which were essential for preventing animals from damaging the vines and grapes. The SheepIT project was developed to automate the role of human shepherds, by monitoring and conditioning the behaviour of grazing animals. Additionally, the data collected in real-time can be used for improving the efficiency of the whole process, e.g., by detecting abnormal situations such as health conditions or attacks and manage the weeding areas. This paper presents a comprehensive set of field-test results, obtained with the SheepIT infrastructure, addressing several dimensions, from the animals’ well-being and their impact on the cultures, to technical aspects, such as system autonomy. The results show that the core objectives of the project have been attained and that it is feasible to use this system, at an industrial scale, in vineyards.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio