Business Cycle at a Sectoral Level: the Portuguese Case

The existence of comovement across different sectors is an important feature of the business cycle definition. The purpose of this work is to characterise the Portuguese sectoral business cycle, with particular emphasis on the comovement phenomenon, for the years 1953-2003 in terms of both GVA and employment. Inthe last fifty years substantial structural changes were observed in the Portuguese economy. These changes mean that some sectors, notably the service sectors, are growing in relative terms. Despite the existing differences in characteristics, such as trend and volatility, there is evidence for the presence of comovement among Portuguese activity sectors. A discussion on the causes of such phenomenon, such as the input-output linkages, in light of the Portuguese economy is done.

Small NFAs from Regular Expressions: Some Experimental Results

Regular expressions (res), because of their succinctness and clear syntax, are the common choice to represent regular languages. However, efficient pattern matching or word recognition depend on the size of the equivalent nondeterministic finite automata (NFA). We present the implementation of several algorithms for constructing small epsilon-free NFAss from res within the FAdo system, and a comparison of regular expression measures and NFA sizes based on experimental results obtained from uniform random generated res. For this analysis, nonredundant res and reduced res in star normal form were considered.Comment: Proceedings of 6th Conference on Computability in Europe (CIE 2010), pages 194-203, Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, June/July 201

An input-output analysis: linkages vs leakages

Resorting to input-output analysis, intersectoral linkages are investigated. For such assessment, the distinction between imported and domestically supplied inputs, which has been disregarded so far in empirical analysis, is crucial. Besides improving the measurement of domestic linkages, it also allows to evaluate the importance of international trade in the production process. Moreover, the interaction between domestic linkages and leakages resulting from international trade can also be analysed. Using as case study a small open economy, the Portuguese one, we assess sectoral interdependence and trade effects for individual sectors as well as for the economy as a whole.

Hedonic Prices Indexes for New Passenger Cars in Portugal (1997- 2001)

This paper evaluates the effects of quality change on the price index for new passenger cars in Portugal for the years 1997-2001. Hedonic regression models are studied, giving particular emphasis to the relation between the form of the price index and the specification of the hedonic equation and estimation method used. It is argued that when log-linear hedonic functions are used the effects of quality change should be evaluated using a method akin to the Oaxaca decomposition (Oaxaca R., 1973, "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets", International Economic Review, 14, 693-709), rather than using the traditional dummy variables method. The results of the empirical part of the paper indicate that the CPI component corresponding to the sales of new passenger cars may have been overestimated by as much as 2.2 percentage points per year. This corresponds to an overestimation of the overall CPI by about 0.15 percentage points per year. As a by- product of this analysis it is also possible to conclude that the quality of new cars sold in Portugal increased on average 4.8 percent per year during this period.CPI bias; Heteroskedasticity; Oaxaca decomposition.

Who's got the power? Wage determination and its resilience in the Great Recession

Whereas wage inequality has risen markedly in most OECD countries in recent decades, it has fallen in several Southern European economies. To shed light on this phenomenon, we embed sectoral bargaining, which is common in Southern European economies, in a dynamic search and matching model. We estimate the model using comprehensive employer-employee data from Portugal for the last two decades and its data on collective bargaining agreements in different sectors, which allows us to assess the evolution of rent sharing. We find that since the mid-2000s, worker bargaining power has grown slightly at the bottom of the skill distribution while shrinking at the middle and top, contributing to the compression of the wage distribution. These changes, which persisted even during the Great Recession, increased the importance of sectoral bargaining in wage determination, weakened the relationship between wages and firm productivity, and reduced the assortative matching of workers to firms

Análise ao conceito de culpa: da divergência conceptual à sua implicação para a investigação em enfermagem

Background: Guilt has been an object of study in several areas of knowledge, including nursing. However, this concept is defined differently across disciplines, which is one of the main obstacles to developing studies on this topic. Objective: This study results from a narrative literature review. It aims to present a conceptual analysis of guilt while reflecting on the need to study the definition of the concept based on the former carers’ experience of this phenomenon. Main topics of analysis: Definition of the concept of guilt in the light of philosophy, legal sciences, and nursing, and presentation of the need to map the concept as a key starting point for the production of scientific knowledge. Conclusion: The literature describes the concept of guilt as a multidisciplinary concept with multiple meanings. Mapping the concept of guilt in a specific population and context is a key starting point for developing future studies on this topic.Enquadramento: A culpa apresenta-se como um fenómeno alvo de estudo em várias áreas do conhecimento, inclusive em enfermagem. Contudo, a definição do seu conceito apresenta divergências entre as várias disciplinas, e tal emerge como um dos principais obstáculos à realização de estudos sobre o tema. Objetivo: O presente estudo, resultante de uma revisão narrativa da literatura, tem como objetivo apresentar uma análise conceptual ao conceito de culpa, refletindo concomitantemente sobre a necessidade de realizar um estudo sobre a definição do conceito face à vivência do fenómeno nos pós-cuidadores. Principais tópicos em análise: Definição do conceito de culpa à luz da filosofia, ciências jurídicas e enfermagem, e apresentação da necessidade de mapear o conceito como ponto de partida fundamental para a produção de conhecimento científico. Conclusão: O conceito de culpa é apresentado na literatura científica como um conceito multidisciplinar com múltiplos significados. O mapeamento do conceito de culpa numa população e contexto específicos apresenta-se como um ponto de partida fundamental para a condução de estudos futuros sobre a problemática.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Returns to schooling in the portuguese economy: a reassessment

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of private returns to schooling in the Portuguese economy along the 1986-2013 period. We estimate the returns separately for men and women, at the mean and along the conditional wage distribution. Returns to schooling are found to be high, particularly for women, and to increase along the distribution. The magnitude of the returns increased throughout the 1986-2013 period, but particularly in the 1990s. We also provide estimates of the relative wage premium associated with specific levels of educational attainment and find that they are highest for tertiary education. In the first decades under analysis, relative wage premia associated with the 9th grade stand above those estimated for secondary education, whereas in the most recent period these differences are negligible.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Please Call Me John: Name Choice and the Assimilation of Immigrants in the United States, 1900-1930

The vast majority of immigrants to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century adopted first names that were common among natives. The rate of adoption of an American name increases with time in the US, although most immigrants adopt an American name within the first year of arrival. Choice of an American first name was associated with a more successful assimilation, as measured by job occupation scores, marriage to a US native and take-up of US citizenship. We examine economic determinants of name choice, by studying the relationship between changes in the proportion of immigrants with an American first name and changes in the concentration of immigrants as well as changes in local labor market conditions, across different census years. We find that high concentrations of immigrants of a given nationality in a particular location discouraged members of that nationality from taking American names. Poor local labor market conditions for immigrants (and good local labor market conditions for natives) led to more frequent name changes among immigrants

The Value of Private Schools: Evidence from Pakistan

Using unique data from Pakistan we estimate a model of demand for differentiated products in 112 rural education markets with significant choice among public and private schools. Families are willing to pay substantially for reductions in distance to school, but in contrast, price elasticities are low. Using the demand estimates, we show that the existence of a low fee private school market is of great value for households in our sample, reaching 2% to 7% of annual per capita expenditure for those choosing private schools