To Be or Not To Be in Office Again: Political Business Cycles with Local Governments

Most opportunistic-type models of political business cycles tend to posit a given objective for incumbents: maximisation of re-election chances. Though taking an opportunistic view too, we suggest a new explanation for a fiscal policy cycle: the incumbent’s concern with her own welfare in cases of victory and defeat. This rationale addresses local policy-making in particular. An equilibrium perfect-foresight model is designed which totally dispenses with any form of irrationality (namely, on the part of voters) or the common objective functions (re- election chances). Being well grounded in basic microeconomic theory (welfare maximisation by the individual agent), our model provides another foundation for the emergence of political business cycles at the local level. The empirical plausibility of theoretical predictions is then tested on Portuguese municipal data. The estimation of an error- components econometric framework finds evidence in favour of the proposed explanation during the period 1986 to 1993, and enlightens the role played by several politico-economic determinants of local governments’ investment outlays, such as electoral calendar, re- candidacy decisions, political cohesion and intergovernmental capital transfers.local public finance; public choice; political business cycle; elections; Portugal

To Be or Not To Be in Office Again, That is the Question: Political Business Cycles with Local Governments

Most opportunistic -type models of political business cycles tend to posit a given objective for incumbents: maximisation of re-election chances. Though taking an opportunistic view too, we suggest a new explanation for a fiscal policy cycle: the incumbents concern with her own welfare in cases of victory and defeat. This rationale addresses local policy-making in particular. An equilibrium perfectforesight model is designed which totally dispenses with any form of irrationality (namely, on the part of voters) or the common objective functions (re-election chances). Being well grounded in basic microeconomic theory (welfare maximisation by the individual agent), our model provides another foundation for the emergence of political business cycles at the local level. The empirical plausibility of theoretical predictions is then tested on Portuguese municipal data ranging from 1977 to 1993. The estimation of an error-components econometric framework finds evidence in favour of the proposed explanation and enlightens the role played by several politicoeconomic determinants of local governments investment outlays, such as electoral calendar, re-candidacy decisions, political cohesion and intergovernmental capital transfers.local public finance; public choice; political business cycles; elections; Portugal

Projeto de Simulação Empresarial: a experiência no ISCAP

Este artigo descreve um estudo levado a cabo no Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto – Instituto Politécnico do Porto (ISCAP-IPP), no curso de Licenciatura de Contabilidade e Administração nas unidades curriculares de Projeto de Simulação Empresarial (PSE) I e II, no ano letivo de 2012/2013. Este estudo tem como base um inquérito efetuado a 60 alunos em PSE I e a 60 alunos de PSE II. O inquérito tenta aferir a perceção dos alunos para questões sobre competências gerais e específicas, consideradas importantes para os gestores e contabilistas no presente. Os resultados transmitem que os alunos reconhecem que a frequência das unidades curriculares permite o reforço e melhoria das competências adquiridas ao longo do curso. Estas conclusões corroboram os de Adler e Milne (1997) que nos dizem que os alunos concordam que a aprendizagem orientada para a ação ajuda na melhoria das suas competências e conhecimentos

Improving management skills through business simulation

A survey was conducted among students of the Accounting and Administration undergraduate degree at ISCAP – IPP (School of Accounting and Administration of Polytechnic Institute of Porto) in order to understand their perception value of their course Business Simulation (BS). This course is provided in a business environment where students can learn by doing through the management of a company as they were in the real life, but risk-free. The learning tasks are provided in an action-oriented format to maximize the learning process. Students learn by doing a set of tasks every session and have also to produce reports and presentations during the course. BS is part of the undergraduate degree of Accounting and Administration at ISCAP – IPP since the beginning of 2003. The questionnaire we used captured the students’ perception about general and specific skills and competencies considered important for managers and accountants in the real life, about the methodology used in the course, which is totally different from the traditional form, and also about the adequacy of the course included as part of the undergraduate degree. The results showed that students’ perception is highly positive and almost all of them think they improve the skills needed for a job during the course. These results are consistent with [1] Adler and Milne’s research in which the authors found that students agree with the use of action-oriented learning tasks in order to provide them the needed attitudes, skills, and knowledge. The improvement of group skills is the most important issue for students, which can be understandable as BS is the only course from the degree in Accounting and Administration they really have to work in groups

Gestão do desempenho organizacional numa empresa familiar: estudo de caso

This research, still at an early stage, and then presented in a poster format, intended to explain the management of organizational performance of a family business in the succession process using the case study method. The scripts for semi-structured interviews that will apply to managers, owners and other workers who are deemed suitable for the investigation, which include relatives of the owners of the company are being developed. For this work the model of organizational performance management developed by David Otley in 1999 [1], consisting of five questions that seek to explain the existing performance management in any organization is utilized

Dialectical Polyptych: an interactive movie installation

Most of the known video games developed by important software companies usually establish an approach to the cinematic language in an attempt to create a perfect combination of narrative, visual technique and interaction. Unlike most video games, interactive film narratives normally involve an interruption in time whenever the spectator has to make choices. “Dialectical Polyptych” is an interactive movie included in a project called “Characters looking for a spectactor”, which aims to give the spectator on-the-fly control over film editing, thus exploiting the role of the spectator as an active subject in the presented narrative. This paper presents an installation based on a mobile device, which allows seamless real-time interactivity with the movie. Different finger touches in the screen allow the spectator to alternate between two parallel narratives, both producing a complementary narrative, and change the angle or shot within each narrative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digestão/excreção no 1.º CEB : concepções das crianças, obstáculos de aprendizagem e estratégias para os ultrapassar, e análise de manuais dos séculos XX e XXI

Dissertação de mestrado em Estudos da Criança, Promoção da Saúde e do Meio Ambiente.Com vista a melhorar a qualidade do ensino das Ciências torna-se fundamental recorrer às concepções prévias das crianças, tendo também em vista potenciar um maior envolvimento motivacional no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Valorizando estas concepções iniciais, atribui-se de facto à criança o papel de construtor de conhecimentos, considerando-a com um ser activo integrado na sociedade, da qual retira inúmeras experiências diárias. Neste sentido, o presente estudo, intitulado Digestão/Excreção no 1º CEB: Concepções das crianças, obstáculos de aprendizagem e estratégias para os ultrapassar, e análise de manuais dos Séculos XX e XXI, tem como objectivo de investigação identificar as concepções prévias das crianças, as dificuldades e os obstáculos de aprendizagem decorrentes do ensino da Digestão e Excreção, assim como propor uma metodologia de ensino inovadora com a finalidade de ultrapassar tais obstáculos. Recorremos também à análise de manuais escolares com o propósito de poder associar alguns aspectos conducentes a obstáculos didácticos bem como conhecer a evolução da apresentação da digestão ao longo do último e presente século. Desenvolveu-se uma metodologia baseada em três momentos articulados de acção. Num momento inicial (A) recorreu-se à recolha de informação através da aplicação de questionários e entrevistas a crianças numa escola do 1º CEB. O segundo momento de acção (B) surgiu com uma aplicação prática de uma metodologia inovadora de ensino-aprendizagem, baseada em diferentes representações e interpretações do Aparelho Digestivo e Excretor (Turma Experimental), tendo por base as dificuldades e os obstáculos emergentes no momento anterior, e desenvolvendo em simultâneo uma metodologia tradicional noutra turma (Turma Controlo), nos mesmos anos de escolaridade (2º ano). Num terceiro momento (C), efectuou-se uma análise a 50 manuais escolares do ensino primário de diferentes épocas (1920-2003) com a finalidade de estudar a representação didáctica do Aparelho digestivo ao longo do tempo e identificar presumíveis obstáculos didácticos nos actuais manuais que possam influenciar a correcta compreensão da constituição e funcionalidade do Aparelho digestivo, relacionando-os com os dados obtidos nos momentos antecedentes. Verificamos que no momento (A) após a análise do questionário inicial registamos a ocorrência nos desenhos de diversas categorias relacionadas com a estrutura orgânica do corpo humano classificando quatro categorias (“Tubo”; “B-S”; “SnL”; e “CE”) para o 1.º e 2.º anos, i. e. antes da aprendizagem formal. Depois da aprendizagem formal (3.º ano), surgiram duas novas categorias (“Cont” e “Inc”), que se registaram também no 4.º ano. No momento (B), recorremos ao uso das categorias identificadas no momento (A) e após os resultados obtidos no pré-teste e no pós-teste concluímos que na Turma Controlo as mesmas categorias ocorrem em ambos os testes, sem que sofram alterações enquanto que o mesmo não acontece com a Turma Experimental na qual o pré-teste apresenta categorias semelhantes às da Turma Controlo mas o pós-teste evidencia novas categorias fruto de aprendizagens mais enriquecedoras e significativas. O momento (C) através da constituição de quatro grupos (mapa I, II, III e IV) para analisar os manuais verificamos que as diferentes editoras apresentam diferentes evoluções e a ocorrência de problemas didácticos varia quanto ao número e ao nível de gravidade. Os resultados mostram que os manuais têm vindo por um lado, a perder qualidades cientificas e didácticas nos últimos anos, e por outro, a apresentar uma evolução positiva ao nível gráfico e estético. Este trabalho tem um valor especial porque não só aborda a área do Estudo do Meio em que as crianças evidenciam algumas dificuldades, mas também porque é um desafio conhecer com mais profundidade o valor e responsabilidade do papel que os docentes desempenham no processo do ensino-aprendizagem como activadores da aquisição dos conhecimentos, recorrendo em grande parte ao auxílio dos manuais escolares.In order to improve the quality of science teaching it is important to get children’s previous conceptions, having also in mind the possibility to increase the motivation for the teaching and learning process. By giving special attention to children’s initial conceptions, it is given a high role to their way of constructing their own knowledge, being also an active person integrated in the society where daily experiences are taken from. The aim of the present study on Digestion/Excretion in Primary School: Children’s conceptions, learning obstacles and strategies to overcome them, and 20-21st textbooks analysis is to identify children’s previous conceptions, their learning difficulties and obstacles in Digestion/Excretion as well as to propose an innovative teaching methodology with the aim to overtake such obstacles. School textbooks were also analysed in order to be able to associate or not some features leading to didactical obstacles as well as to know the evolution of Digestion presentation along the last and the present century. The methodology was developed in three interrelated moments of action. In the first moment (A) questionnaires and interviews were used to collect primary school children’s data. The second moment (B) concerned, on one hand, the practical application of a innovative methodology of teaching and learning based on different representations and interpretations of both Digestive and Urinary apparatus (Experimental Class), having in mind the learning difficulties and obstacles that emerged from the previous moment, and on another hand, carrying out in parallel the traditional teaching methodology (Control Class), both in school year 2. The third moment (C) involved the analysis of 50 primary school textbooks of different periods (1920-2003) with the aim to study the didactic representation of Digestion along the time and to identify possible didactic obstacles in the current textbooks that might influence the correct understanding of the structure and function of the Digestive apparatus, relating them with the previous moments. It was possible to verify from the moment (A), following the analysis of the questionnaire answers concerning the childrens’s drawings, four categories related to the human body (“Tube”, “M-S”, “SnL”, and “CE”) for the year 1 and 2, i.e. before the formal learning. After the formal teaching (year 3) new categories emerged (“Cont” and “Inc”), which were also observed in year 4. In the moment (B), the results obtained in both Control Class pre-test and pos-test showed no differences whereas in the Experimental Class the pre-test was similar to both pre- and post-tests of the Control Class but the Experimental Class post-test showed new categories as a result of the enriching and significant learning. In the moment (C) four groups were created (map I, II, III and IV) to analyse the textbooks. It was found that different publishers showed different evolutions and different didactical problems that vary in relation to both the number of occurrences and the level of severity. Thus, the results show that the school textbooks, on one hand, have been loosing scientific and didactical qualities with time and, on the other hand, have been presenting a positive evolution as far as design and aesthetics is concerned. This work has a special value as it not only makes an approach to the children’s conceptions and learning difficulties but also is a challenge to understand more deeply the significance and the responsibility that teachers play in the process of teaching and learning as motivators of the knowledge acquisition, who use frequently the school textbooks

Constraint programming on a heterogeneous multicore architecture

As bibliotecas para programação com restrições são úteis ao desenvolverem-se aplicações em linguagens de programação normalmente mais utilizadas pois não necessitam que os programadores aprendam uma. Nova, linguagem, fornecendo ferramentas de programação declarativa para utilização com os sistemas convencionais. Algumas soluções para programação com restrições favorecem completude, tais como sistemas baseados em propagação. Outras estão mais interessadas em obter uma boa solução rapidamente, rejeitando a necessidade de encontram todas as soluções; esta sendo a alternativa utilizada nos sistemas de pesquisa local. Conceber soluções híbridas (propagação + pesquisa local) parece prometedor pois as vantagens de ambas alternativas podem ser combinadas numa única solução. As arquiteturas paralelas são cada vez mais comuns, em parte devido à disponibilidade em grande escala, de sistemas individuais mas também devido à tendência em generalizar o uso de processadores multicore ou seja., processadores com várias unidades de processamento. Nesta tese é proposta uma. Arquitetura para resolvedores de restrições mistos, de pendendo de métodos de propagação e pesquisa local, a qual foi concebida para funcionar eficazmente numa arquitetura. Heterogéneo multiprocessador. /ABSTRACT - Constraint programming libraries are useful when building applications developed mostly in mainstrearn programming languages: they do not require the developers to acquire skills for a new language, providing instead declarative programming tools for use within conventional systems. Some approaches to constraint programming favour completeness, such as propagation-based systems. Others are more interested in getting to a good solution fast, regardless of whether all solutions may be found; this approach is used in local search systems. Designing hybrid approaches (propagation + local search) seems promising since the advantages may be combined into a single approach. Parallel architectures are becoming more commonplace, partly due to the large-scale availability of individual systems but also because of the trend towards generalizing the use of multicore microprocessors. In this thesis an architecture for mixed constraint solvers is proposed, relying both on propagation and local search, which is designed to function effectively in a heterogeneous multicore architecture

Visualization and interaction in a simulation system for flood emergencies

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia InformáticaThis thesis presents an interaction and visualization system for a river flood emergency simulation. It will also present a detailed study about forms of visual representation of critical elements in emergencies. All these elements are currently assembled in an application based on geographic information systems and agent simulation. Many of the goals in this thesis are interconnected with project Life-Saver. This project has the goal to develop an emergency response simulator, which needs a visualization and interaction system. The main goals of this thesis are, to create a visualization system for an emergency, to design an intuitive multimedia interface and to implement new forms of human-computer interaction. At the application level there is a representation of the simulation scenario with the multiple agent and their actions. Several studies were made to create an intuitive interface. New forms of multimedia interaction are studied and used such as interactive touch sensible boards and multi-touch panels. It is possible to load and retrieve geographic information on the scenario. The resulting architecture is used to visualize a simulation of an emergency flooding situation in a scenario where the Alqueva dam in Guadiana river fails

Option pricing with Lévy processes: jump models for European-style options

Tese de mestrado em Matemática Financeira, apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2013The goal of this dissertation is to explain how the pricing of European-style options under Lévy processes, namely jump and jump diffusion processes, can be performed and the mathematics associated with it. For this purpose, three models are exposed: Merton, Kou and Variance Gamma, each with different valuation approaches. A Monte Carlo path simulation is also explained. Finally, calibration of the models to real data takes place