Behavioural determinants of Foreign Direct Investment

The paper presents a behavioural economics approach to foreign direct investment. Starting from the behavioural finance literature, it uses content analysis based on interviews and questionnaires covering 12% of the Portuguese firms with investments abroad. The study presents evidence of several behavioural rules (e.g., herding, cascading, anchoring, overconfidence, mental accounting) in firms’ location decisions that originate a new set of determinants of FDI flows and complement the neo classical paradigm. Moreover, it confirms the Heiner model (1983, 1985, 1989) by showing that the higher is the uncertainty faced by decision makers the more frequent is the use of behavioural rules. The central role of uncertainty helps explaining why FDI flows occur more frequently among developed countries.Behavioural, Foreign Direct Investment, Uncertainty

The standard neo-classical view on tax competition. A diagrammatic survey and some deductions for small open economies

This paper presents a diagrammatic survey of the standard neo-classical theory of tax competition for foreign direct investment and tax coordination between countries. It has four aims: to give a detailed view of the main theoretical and empirical results; to extract from it some general deductions for small and less developed open economies; to discuss different angles to improve the existing literature; and to put these in the context of fiscal policy in the European Union. It argues that eventual benefits brought by corporate tax harmonisation in the EU are not sufficient to compensate the risk of doing harm to small and relatively poor economies. Further research on equity issues is therefore needed before proceeding to harmonisation.Foreign Direct Investment; Tax competition; Tax coordination; Small countries

BEHAVIOURAL DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

The paper presents a behavioural economics approach to foreign direct investment. Starting from behavioural finance theory, it uses content analysis from interviews made to Portuguese managers with investments abroad. The study presents evidence of herding, anchoring, overconfidence, mental accounting and other behaviour rules in firms’ location decisions that originate a set of determinants of FDI flows and complement the neoclassical paradigm. Moreover, it confirms the Heiner model (1983, 1985, 1989) by showing that the higher the uncertainty faced by decision makers the more frequent will be the use of behavioural rules. The central role of uncertainty helps explain why FDI flows occur more frequently among developed countries.Foreign Direct Investment, Behavioural economics, Uncertainty.

The Ease of Doing Business Index as a tool for Investment location decisions

The Ease of Doing Business Index (EDBI) uses 41 variables to compare the business environment of different countries. It is widely used by policy makers, researchers and multinational companies. This paper aims to assess EDBI’s consistency and validity in representing the business environment by using factor analysis. It is found that the EDBI presents a limited consistency and descriptive power of a country’s business environment. The consequence of these findings is that multinational firms should handle carefully the EDBI in their investment decisions.Location Decisions, Factor Analysis, Cross-Border Investments, Institutional Environment

The socioeconomics of the Mediterranean diet : prices, inequalities, and policies

ABSTRACT - Healthy food promotion policies should consider how the food environment interacts with the population's socioeconomic inequalities. We seek to understand how (1) Mediterranean Diet adherence changes over time along economic cycles; (2) the role of food prices and household income in dietary patterns inequalities; (3) and if the household structure and family support influence individual diets. We found that the economic downturn was associated with a decrease in diet quality in Portugal, particularly among younger people. The economic recovery was accompanied by a generalized rise in Mediterranean Diet adherence in the European elderly, with a more pronounced increase in higher socioeconomic groups. We conclude that improving populations' welfare condition and reducing inequalities is a requisite for an equitable shift to healthier eating habits. Then, we observed that higher adherence to Mediterranean Diet in Portugal was associated with an overall higher dietary cost, highlighting the need to make healthy eating less regressive and affordable. Our findings suggested that while healthy food consumption is positively related to income, unhealthy food was mostly unrelated. Hence, fiscal policies can be effective and socially just policy tools for improving diets. Finally, our study on the influence of household structure on individual diets showed that people living alone or in single-parent families might be at a higher risk of following unhealthy diets. Not benefiting from economies of scale for purchasing and cooking at home may make eating healthier more difficult. We suggest that community-based health promotion services could mitigate the negative health effects on these families. RESUMO - As políticas para a promoção de uma alimentação saudável devem ter em conta o modo como os ambientes alimentares interagem com as desigualdades socioeconômicas na população. Procuramos compreender (1) como a adesão à Dieta Mediterrânica muda ao longo dos ciclos económicos; (2) o papel do preço dos alimentos e do rendimento familiar nas desigualdades encontradas nos padrões alimentares; (3) e se a estrutura e suporte familiar influenciam a dieta. A recessão económica esteve associada a uma diminuição da qualidade da dieta em Portugal, particularmente entre os mais jovens. A recuperação económica foi acompanhada por um aumento da adesão à Dieta Mediterrânica nos idosos europeus, particularmente em grupos socioeconómicos mais elevados. Concluímos que reduzir as desigualdades é um requisito necessário para uma mudança equitativa nos hábitos alimentares. Observou-se que uma maior adesão à Dieta Mediterrânica em Portugal esteve associada a um custo global mais elevado. Embora o consumo de alimentos saudáveis esteja positivamente relacionado com rendimento familiar, não se encontrou um claro gradiente entre os alimentos menos saudáveis e rendimento. Assim, políticas fiscais podem ser ferramentas políticas eficazes e socialmente justas para melhorar os padrões alimentares. Finalmente, as pessoas que vivem sozinhas ou estão em famílias monoparentais podem estar em maior risco de seguir dietas menos saudáveis. Este tipo de agregado familiar poderá não beneficiar de economias de escala para comprar e cozinhar em casa, representado assim um obstáculo para dieta saudável. Sugerimos que os serviços comunitários de promoção da saúde podem mitigar os efeitos negativos para a saúde destas famílias

FDI and institutional reform in Portugal

This article analyses the effects of several geographic, economic and institutional factors on bilateral inward FDI in Europe. Moreover, it assesses the required reform effort, and the expected benefits, for Portugal to converge with the EU in the institutional variables that are relevant to attract investment. We conclude that good institutions favouring economic freedom and the ease of doing business, and geography, market size and labor costs, affect bilateral inward FDI. Political risk does not lead to significant differences in FDI across the EU. The results are robust to different methods – principal component analysis, factor-based scores and by considering several institutional indicators successively. We also find that most promising reforms arise in the financial system, corruption, property rights, and in some business regulations associated with starting a business. Increasing labor market flexibility to the EU level has also a large impact on inward FDI, but this reform comes at a comparatively higher effort.FDI, Institutional reform, Institutions, Portugal, EU

Hipoacusia sono-traumática em indivíduos expostos a ruído profissional : papel da audiometria e possíveis estratégias preventivas

Introdução: A exposição profissional ao ruído, bastante frequente no nosso país, causa lesões irreversíveis na cóclea, conduzindo a hipoacusia. A audiometria tonal por via aérea tem sido utilizada como instrumento de reconhecimento precoce deste tipo de patologia, através da presença do entalhe audiométrico nos 4000 ciclos por segundo. Objectivos: Caracterizar os limiares auditivos de trabalhadores expostos a ruído profissional. Investigar a validade do entalhe audiométrico como marcador precoce da instalação de hipoacusia sono-traumática. Reflectir sobre estratégias de prevenção da hipoacusia profissional. Metodologia: Análise dos limiares auditivos de audiogramas de 57 indivíduos expostos a ruído profissional realizados nos Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra. Comparálos com os limiares auditivos esperados para a população saudável segundo os modelos ISO 7029 e ISO 1999. Resultados: Na quase totalidade dos indivíduos houve um aumento geral dos limiares auditivos, sobretudo nas frequências mais altas, sendo estes limiares maiores em indivíduos com mais anos de exposição a ruído. O entalhe audiométrico esteve presente na quase totalidade dos audiogramas.Conclusões: O entalhe audiométrico é um instrumento útil na detecção precoce da hipoacusia sono-traumática. É necessário educar para a utilização de protecção auditiva nos locais de trabalho e implementar medidas administrativas de controlo sonoro de modo a contrariar a instalação e progressão da hipoacusia profissional.Introduction: The occupational exposure to noise, quite frequent in our country, causes irreversible lesions in the cochlea, leading to hypoacusis. The pure tone audiometry has been used as an instrument of early recognition of this type of pathology, through the presence of the audiometric notch at 4000 cycles per second. Objectives: Characterize the hearing thresholds of workers exposed to occupational noise. Investigate the validity of the audiometric notch as an early marker in the settlement of noise-induced hypoacusis. Ponder about strategies on preventing occupational hypoacusis. Methods: Analysis of the hearing thresholds in the audiograms of 57 individuals fulfilled in the Hospital of the University of Coimbra. Compare them with the hearing thresholds expected by the healthy population according to the ISO 7029 and ISO 1999 models. Results: In almost all individuals there was a general increase in the hearing thresholds, mainly in the higher frequencies, these thresholds being greater in individuals with more years of exposure to noise. The audiometric notch was present in almost all of the audiograms.Conclusions: The audiometric notch is a useful instrument in early detection of noiseinduced hypoacusis. It’s necessary to educate towards the wearing of hearing protection in the workplace and to implement administrative measures of sound control in order to oppose the settlement and progression of occupational hypoacusis

O Comércio Ibérico e o Comércio Portugal-UE: que diferenças?

After joining the EC Portugal experienced a big change in its external trade: there was a huge growth in the trade balance deficit and Spain, a less important partner, became Portugal's major one. In order to understand if either the Portuguese economy tends to a more peripheral location inside Europe or if there is a convergence with both the Iberian neighbour and the more developed EU contries, it is made a comparison between the caracteristics of Portuguese trade flows with both partners. Iberian trade is more uneven than Portugal-EU trade due mainly to an earlier and greater move of Spanish companies to the Portuguese market. This is a change from the beginning of 1990's, when Iberian intra-industry trade was mainly made of goods with similar quality. But in spite of the deficit, it seems that Portugal-EU and Spain-EU trade became more similar.International trade; Trade pattern; Quality of traded goods; Portugal