Desempenho e sobrevivência das empresas estrangeiras e domésticas durante crises

Mestrado em EconomiaA crise económica e financeira global, que atingiu a maior parte dos sistemas económicos regionais e nacionais por todo o mundo no final de 2007, tem alertado para uma maior reflexão sobre o papel desempenhado pelas empresas multinacionais (EMNs) estrangeiras nas economias receptoras. Os governos geralmente encaram o investimento directo estrangeiro (IDE) e a presença das empresas estrangeiras como algo altamente desejável. Contudo, até que ponto é que as actividades das multinacionais estrangeiras contribuem para a gravidade dos efeitos da crise ou, em alternativa, permitem atenuar alguns dos seus piores efeitos, ao reduzirem o volume de despedimentos e as contracções de produção nas economias acolhedoras? Com base em dados ao nível da empresa da base de dados Quadros de Pessoal e num período temporal integrando períodos de estabilidade e de abrandamento económico, a presente dissertação avalia em que medida as subsidiárias estrangeiras apresentaram um comportamento diferenciado face às empresas locais durante os períodos de abrandamento ultrapassados pela economia Portuguesa, com o objectivo de aferir a capacidade potencial das empresas estrangeiras em agirem como elementos estabilizadores ou destabilizadores durante períodos de crise. Em particular, centramos a nossa análise em duas medidas de performance ao nível da empresa (crescimento do emprego e crescimento do volume de negócios), bem como nas perspectivas de sobrevivência e taxas de falência. Depois de controlarmos por diversas características das empresas e das indústrias, não encontramos diferenças significativas entre as empresas estrangeiras e domésticas no que respeita ao crescimento do emprego, embora os resultados sugiram que a propriedade estrangeira pode ter afectado positivamente a taxa de crescimento do volume de vendas durante as recessões. Relativamente às tendências de sobrevivência, as empresas estrangeiras e domésticas não exibiram diferenças significativas nos padrões de sobrevivência e falência ao longo dos períodos de abrandamento económico. De um ponto de vista de política, apesar de os nossos resultados não contestarem a opção por políticas centradas na atracção de IDE, a evidência empírica encontrada para Portugal não justifica a escolha de uma política discriminatória a favor das empresas estrangeiras. Os resultados mostram que as EMNs estrangeiras não exercem um efeito destabilizador nas economias acolhedoras. Porém, não existem razões sólidas para esperar ganhos positivos do IDE, nomeadamente no que respeita ao seu papel potenciador na recuperação económica.The global financial and economic crisis, which struck most of the world’s national and regional economic systems in the late 2007, has led to calls for further reflection on the role played by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in host economies. Governments commonly seem to view inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign firms’ presence as highly desirable. However, in what extent do foreign multinationals’ activities contribute to the severity of crisis’ effects or otherwise allow to mitigating some of the worst effects, by reducing lay-offs and output contractions in the host countries? Using firm-level data from Quadros de Pessoal database and a time span integrating periods of economic stability and economic downturns, this dissertation evaluates in what extent foreign subsidiaries have behaved differently than local firms during the slowdown periods experienced by Portuguese economy, in order to assess the potential ability of foreign firms to act as stabilizer or disturbing elements during crises. In particular, we focus on two performance measures at the firm-level (employment growth and sales turnover growth) and also on firm survival prospects and failure rates. After controlling for several firm-level and industry-level characteristics, we find no significant differences between foreign and domestic firms in what concerns employment growth, though the results suggest that foreign ownership may have positively affected firms’ sales turnover growth during recessions. Regarding survival trends, foreign and domestic firms did not exhibit different chances of survival and exit throughout economic slowdowns. For policy, despite our results do not contest the option for active FDI attraction policies, the empirical evidence found for Portugal is not supportive of a discriminatory policy in favour of foreign firms. The results indicate that foreign MNEs do not exert a disturbing effect on host economy. However, there are no strong reasons to expect positive gains from FDI in what concerns its potential recovery-enhancer role

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research