Product Attribute Saliency and Region of Origin: Some Empirical Evidence from Portugal

This paper empirically investigates the extent to which consumer preferences may act as promoters of regional products. Three products are studied in terms of the importance consumers attach to various product attributes with particular emphasis on region of origin information. The estimation of a hedonic price function, which relates the price of Portuguese regional products to its various attributes, provided empirical support to the hypothesis that region of origin matters to consumers. The study shows that wine, olive oil and cheese from some regions of origin have a significant impact on price. Particularly, some regions of origin are expected to have price premiums, while others are expected to have discounts.regional products, hedonic approach, wine, olive oil, cheese, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C21, D83, Q18,

Foreign firms in Portuguese manufacturing and retail sectors: a similar or different location

Foreign Directo Investment (FDI) is increasingly important in the portuguese economy since it integration in the European Union (1986), although from 1997 onwards it has considerably decreased. In 1995 and 1996, the share of the FDI in the GDP reached it peak obtaining a value of 4,29 and 4,34 respectively. The manufacturing and retailing sectors represent a good part of the total FDI. In this paper we investigate the industrial and retail services location factors. Two surveys have been carried out allowing for the identification of the most preferable factors by the foreign investors. In the manufacturing sector the selection of Portugal to invest depended upon the labour costs and the importance of domestic market. In the retailing sector the government regulations, market size, cultural and geographic proximity to the host country are the most relevent factors.

Estado Confusional Agudo após Corticoterapia Inalada

Background: The connection between corticotherapy and neuropsychiatric symptoms is widely known, being one of the first questions we need to assess when presenting with first episode psychiatric symptoms or confusional state. Aims: To date, data on cases related to inhaled corticotherapy and neuropsychiatric effects is scarce. In this paper we describe a rare case in a young woman. Methods: The clinical case presented led us to try to understand the data published on the subject in order to discuss it in greater length. Results and Conclusions: We present and discuss a 27-year-old patient’s case, with no previous psychiatric disease, who was admitted to our Psychiatric ward after the onset of severe acute behavioural disturbance characterized by aggressiveness, visual and auditory hallucinatory activity, misidentification and altered conscience status. It was later found that seven days earlier she had been prescribed inhaled corticotherapy for a minor respiratory infection. A few days after corticotherapy withdrawal, the clinical symptoms improved significantly.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Region’s reputation and the price of regional products: a hedonic analysis of Portuguese quality cheese

Resources (tangible and intangible) can be mobilised to increase region’s reputation and confer a competitive advantage to certain products with origin in that region. The returns of a region’s resources depend upon the ability of local firms to appropriate the rents earned and whether the consumers value the characteristics of the region that are associated with the product, being disposed to pay a price premium. The estimation of a hedonic price function, which relates the price of portuguese regional cheeses to its various attributes, provided empirical support to the hypothesis that regional designation of origin maters to consumers. The study shows that some designations of origin, cheese characteristics (cured or not) and milk types have a significant impact on price. Particularly, while cheeses from regions of “Minho e Trás-os-Montes” and “Ribatejo e Estremadura” are expected to have price premiums, cheeses from regions of “Alentejo” and “Ilhas” are expected to have discounts, relative to “Beiras” (base category). Also, ewe’s cheese and no cured cheese have positive effect on price

Território e internacionalização empresarial na fileira têxtil

A comunicação procura investigar em que medida o território no qual a empresa está imbricada funciona como alavanca ou travão do seu processo de internacionalização. Assim, na recensão das principais teorias explicativas do envolvimento internacional da empresa, procurar-se-á identificar o papel reservado ao espaço. Nesta digressão, num primeiro momento, dá-se relevo às etapas do processo de internacionalização da empresa. Segue-se a análise das teorias que ignoram o espaço e que centram a sua explicação nas diferenças de taxa de juro entre os países, na dotação factorial, nas imperfeições do mercado e nas vantagens da empresa. Num terceiro momento, equaciona-se o papel dos distritos industriais e dos meios inovadores como alavancas para o processo de internacionalização das organizações. A finalizar, procura-se ilustrar o papel do território no processo de internacionalização da empresa, apresentando-se algumas experiências de empresas portuguesas da fileira têxtil

Retail macro-location factors: empirical evidence from the portuguese shopping centres

Shopping centres appeared in Portugal in the beginning of the 1970’s and have expanded their presence from the eighties onwards. However, few efforts have been made to identify the macro level factors that influenced the location of Portuguese shopping centres. This study attempts to fill this gap by focusing on the region-specific endowments that motivate promoters of shopping centres to invest in a particular location. Using OLS Regression, we tested five hypotheses as pointed out by the theory, namely the population (measured by the population/area), the economy (measured by the purchasing power index), the competition (measured by the number of retailers per head), the accessibility to the shopping centre (measured by the difference between the maximum and minimum altitude) and costs (measured by the average time distance). The results support all our hypotheses, except accessibility. The population hypothesis (H1) was supported, promoters tended to invest in regions where population density is higher. The economy hypothesis was supported (H2), promoters tended to invest in high income regions. The competition hypothesis was supported (H3), promoters tended to choose regions where there is a lack of retailers per head. Finally, the cost hypothesis was also supported (H5), promoters tended to choose regions where they perceived low levels of cost. We found no support for the accessibility measure (H4), although the variable was correctly signed

Consumer perception of Portuguese quality wine and the region-of-origin effect

Region’s specificities such as history, geography and culture can be mobilised to qualify regions` products and confer a competitive advantage to certain products with origin in that region. The returns of a region’s resources depend upon the ability of local firms to appropriate the rents earned and whether consumers value the characteristics of the region that are associated with the product, being disposed to pay a price premium. In a previous research, using a hedonic price function, which related the price of Portuguese regional wines to its various attributes, we found empirical support to the idea that region of origin matters to consumers, that is, the study showed that some regions of origin had a significant impact on products price. The approach taken was a supply side one, which means we collected prices from different Portuguese retail chains. In this empirical research, we intend to test the same issue questioning directly a certain kind of consumers: those who buy wine to sell it in their small retail shops, restaurants and bars (cafés). Besides the regional designation of origin, other product attributes to be tested are colour, age and special attributes, which all have shown positive effects on price in the previous research

The role of regional and local incentives on the location of foreign firms in Portugal

Foreign direct investment is an issue of paramount importance in the Portuguese economy from the eighties onwards, especially ever since Portugal became an European Community member state. Nevertheless, little emphasis has been put on the role of the local and regional incentives (for example, financial incentives) to launch business and investment throughout the Portuguese territory. This paper seeks to shed light upon the above issue. Information has been gathered through interviews. Thirty seven foreign firms have been randomly selected from a representative sample. The results will be shown in this paper

An investigation of the relationship between counterfeiting and culture: evidence from the European Union

International counterfeiting affects adversely producers, consumers and domestic economies. Some attempts have been made in the last years by international organisations (European Union, World Trade Organisation) to deal with this complex problem. Though some success has been achieved, the number of seizures of counterfeited goods detected in the external borders of EU has increased. This study examines the impact of Hofstede’s cultural variables (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance) on the level of counterfeiting in European countries