The importance of bank seniority for relationship lending

The authors examine two aspects of a bank's interaction with its borrowers--the relative priority of bank debt and the role of banks as "relationship lenders." They show that making the bank senior improves its incentives to build a relationship with the firm, thereby fulfilling an important function of intermediated debt.Bank loans

Searching for clusters in tourism. A quantitative methodological proposal

The tourism industry is one of Europe’s leading employers, and for many regions highly dependent on tourists’ spending, innovation is the difference between growth and stagnation. Thus, at a regional level, tourism may function as a driving force of socioeconomic development and thus contribute to the demise of regional disparities. Such lever effect is usually associated to a geographical concentration abusively denominated of clusters. Most of the studies within the tourism industry identify clusters resorting to simplistic analyses of geographic location measures or experts’ opinions. These latter tend to neglect the essence of the cluster concept, namely the inter-linkages among regional actors. In the present paper, we propose a methodology to rigorously identify tourism clusters, stressing the importance of networks and cooperation between agents.Clusters; Tourism; Methodology

The ‘de-territorialisation of closeness’ - a typology of international successful R&D projects involving cultural and geographic proximity

Although there is a considerable amount of empirical evidence on inter-firm collaborations within technology-based industries, there are only a few works concerned with R&D cooperation by low-tech firms, especially SMEs. Providing further and new evidence based on a recently built database of CRAFT projects, this study analyzes the relationship between technology and proximity in international R&D networks using Homogeneity Analysis by Means of Alternating Least Squares (HOMALS) and statistical cluster techniques. The resulting typology of international cooperative R&D projects highlights that successful international cooperative R&D projects are both culturally/geographically closer and distant. Moreover, and quite interestingly, geographically distant projects are technologically more advanced whereas those located near each other are essentially low tech. Such evidence is likely to reflect the tacit-codified knowledge debate boosted recently by the ICT “revolution” emphasized by the prophets of the “Death of Distance” and the “End of Geography”.Research and Development (R&D); proximity; SMEs

A new look into the evolution of clusters literature. A bibliometric exercise

In the contemporary globalising knowledge-based economies, local clusters have become crucial elements of regional development, assuming a significant role in both academic and political fields. Although there is an intuitive awareness about the raising importance of the theoretical debate on clusters, there is a substantial lack of empirical support of its precise magnitude and evolution. Moreover, the majority of literature surveys on clusters are exclusively qualitative-based. Aiming at filling this gap, the main purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative survey of the cluster literature, using bibliometric techniques based on articles. Based on a throughout analysis of all abstracts of articles on clusters published in journals indexed on the Econlit and EBSCO databases, covering the period 1962-2007, our research show that besides their importance in academic fields, the role of clusters has also been widely acknowledged in political spheres. In parallel with the increasing interest in the ‘local’, there has been, as well, an emergent body of literature on global networks and clusters. Moreover, on the basis of the recent boom on clusters literature stands the emergent themes of ‘local networks and social approaches’ and ‘knowledge-based theories’. Literature associated to ‘regional and national innovation systems’ and to ‘institutional approaches’ (local enrooted cultures, governance and customs) has been object of a particular dynamism since the 1990s. Despite the evidence of a clear positive correlation between journals ‘quality’ and formal related research, the evolution of the literature on clusters continues to be mostly appreciative led.Clusters, Industrial Clusters, Industrial Location; Bibliometrics

Confined Maxwell Field and Temperature Inversion Symmetry

We evaluate the Casimir vacuum energy at finite temperature associated with the Maxwell field confined by a perfectly conducting rectangular cavity and show that an extended version of the temperature inversion symmetry is present in this system

QUALITY EVALUATION OF 'SUNBURST' CHERRIES HARVESTED AT DIFFERENT RIPENESS STAGES .

The sweet cherry ‘Sunburst’ is highly appreciated by consumers due to its organoleptic traits. Regional producers tend to harvest cherries sooner in order to increase their profits. With the aim of understanding the consequences of this we have tested the effect of different ripeness stages at the moment of harvesting on fruit quality. Quality parameters tested included external colour (L*, a*, b*), fruit texture, total soluble solids (TSS), and titratable acidity (TA). To evaluate nutritional quality total antioxidant activity was measured too. Once again, and in agreement with results obtained in previous studies, we conclude that there is no advantage in picking less ripe cherries

Qualidade pós-colheita de diferentes cultivares de morango,

A influência de vários factores agronómicos, como a disponibilidade de nutrientes, na produção e qualidade dos frutos é hoje bem conhecida. No entanto é necessário saber quais os aspectos de qualidade que são influenciados e os métodos adequados para a sua medição, bem como estabelecer a relação entre os valores das análise instrumentais e a avaliação sensorial. Contudo a dificuldade inerente à realização sistemática de painéis de provadores tem levado à procura de métodos instrumentais, que permitam a previsão da avaliação sensorial. Nesta perspectiva foi introduzido o uso do nariz electrónico (E-nose). Consideram-se como principais objectivos deste trabalho: verificar se as cultivares apresentam diferenças mensuráveis na qualidade, avaliar a influência das diferentes adubações praticadas na qualidade dos morangos e relacionar a análise sensorial com a instrumental, para definir métodos adequados para avaliar as características qualitativas. Foram colhidas amostras de 6 diferentes cultivares (‘Camarosa’, ‘Camino Real’, ‘Califórnia Giant3’, ‘Diamante’, ‘Selva’, ‘Ventana’), obtidas com o mesmo sistema produtivo, no campo de ensaios da ESA Santarém. A recolha de amostras foi semanal sendo considerado como mínimo de 10 frutos por cultivar e por modalidade de adubação, colhidos ao acaso no estado de maturação comercial. Foram realizadas as seguintes avaliações: Peso, Cor exterior (CIE L* a* b*), Aspecto geral (para detectar possíveis anomalias), Textura mediante testes de penetração com sonda cilíndrica com 3mm de diâmetro e compressão com prato, Firmeza Durofel com sonda de 3mm, Sólidos Solúveis Totais por refractometria, Acidez Titulável, Aroma recorrendo a um “Nariz Electrónico” e Análise Sensorial. Para a análise dos resultados foi usado o programa “Statistica 6.0” realizando-se análise de variância e, quando necessário, a comparação de médias pelo método de Tukey. Os resultados das leituras do “Nariz Electrónico” foram estudados mediante uma Análise de Componentes Principais. Pode-se concluir que as cultivares são diferentes para todos os parâmetros de qualidade avaliados. A interacção entre os factores “Cultivar” e “Adubação” apresentou-se como significativa para muitos dos parâmetros, o que evidencia um comportamento diferenciado das cultivares com a prática ou não de adubação de cobertura. Exemplos disso são a maioria das avaliações da textura, e os resultados das coordenadas cromáticas a* e b*. No peso destaca-se a ‘Ventana’ sem adubação e ‘Camino Real’ com a adubação de cobertura. A cv. Camarosa parece reagir de forma muito positiva à adubação praticada exibindo melhores valores de firmeza, de SST e de cor vermelha