The Informativeness of Quarterly Financial Reporting: The Portuguese Case

With the Directive 2004/109/EC, of December 15, 2004 – Transparency Directive –, the European Union decided not to require listed companies to disclose financial information in the first and third quarters of each year. Each EU country now has to decide whether to oblige its companies to disclose this information. Using a sample of 1751 firm-earnings announcements between 1994 and 2004, this paper ascertains the informativeness of quarterly financial reporting in Portugal, one of the seven European countries where the disclosure of such information is currently compulsory in all quarters. Evidence suggests that the information of the first and third quarters, both in terms of price volatility and trading volume, is significant and not inferior to that of the remaining earnings announcements.Capital markets-based research; interim accounting disclosure; market reaction; market regulation

Alienation in organizations : implications for educational administration

The concept of alienation has a long past in the history of ideas. It has been dealt with in the works some great writers of the past. Alienation has influenced philosophers during different eras and it is best known after Marx's theories. Since Marx, the «anthological-ethical» and the «psychological-sociological» views of alienation have gained wide acceptance. With Marx, the theories of alienation have been built upon certain assumptions and concepts about human nature and the relationship between man and society (Israel, 1971: 11). Marx's analysis of alienation comprise three aspects: religious, political and economic. He indicated that economic alienation is the most basic and is rooted in the alienation from labour. This paper looks at alienation in organizations, traces its sources and deals with its various dimensions and effects. For the purpose of this paper alienation is defined as «… an estrangement or separation between parts or the whole of the personality and significant aspects of the world of experience …» (Kurt Lang, 1964: 19).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O elemento de inovação na lei de informática e seu resultado

The present research has the intent of studying the present results of the Informatics Law (IL) in Brazil as it pertains to its effect of innovation generation through its mandated R&D expenditures. With the objective of contextualizing the legislation we provide a brief historical overview of the legislation, the recent necessity of alteration of such legislation due to findings by the World Trade Organization, and a brief comparative of international efforts with similar intent, but different method, adopted by other countries. Subsequently, this study evaluates the recently available numbers related to R&D expenditures by the IL, giving special emphasis to limitations of the data that are not always perceived. Finally, we realize interviews with several participants and beneficiaries of the legislation in search of their impressions of the current situation and of our evaluation of the data generated. From this data, we make a general conclusion of the current state of the efforts of the Informatics Law in fomenting innovation through the mandated expenditure of R&D fund. We conclude with the identification of serious limitations in the results produced by the informatics law, and the mechanisms for monitoring results developed over the years.A pesquisa tem o intuito de estudar a situação presente dos resultados da Lei de Informática no Brasil no que tange ao aspecto de geração de inovação das verbas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento (P&D). Com o objetivo de contextualizar a legislação, inicia-se com um breve histórico da legislação, a recente necessidade de alteração da legislação devido a decisões negativas da Organização Mundial do Comércio; e comparativos internacionais com esforços históricos de intuito similar, mas mecânica diversa, adotados por outros países. Posteriormente, em sua segunda etapa, este estudo revisa os números disponíveis relativos à Lei de Informática e os dispêndios de P&D correlatos à legislação, enfatizando importantes limitações sobre os dados que são raramente percebidos por outras análises destes números. Finalmente, foram realizadas entrevistas com diversos atores beneficiados ou de outra forma atuantes com a Lei de Informática em busca de impressões e validações de percepções sobre os dados levantados na segunda etapa. Sobre esta coletânea de dados, realiza-se uma conclusão geral do estado atual dos esforços da Lei de Informática enquanto instrumento de fomento de inovação com seus dispêndios em pesquisa e desenvolvimento. Concluímos com a identificação de sérias limitações de resultados produzidos pela lei de informática e sobre os mecanismos de monitoramento de resultados desenvolvidos ao longo dos anos

O impacto da satisfação profissional na qualidade de vida: o papel mediador da fusão cognitiva

Dissertação de mestrado em Psicologia Clínica e de Saúde (Intervenções Cognitivo-Comportamentais nas Perturbações Psicológicas da Saúde), apresentada à Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra.A Qualidade de Vida tem sido amplamente estudada, sendo unanimemente aceite que as vivências em contexto profissional têm impacto significativo no bem-estar do indivíduo. De facto, diferentes estudos suportam a relação entre a satisfação profissional e a qualidade de vida subjetiva. Contudo, pouco se sabe sobre possíveis mecanismos de regulação emocional envolvidos nesta relação. A fusão cognitiva pode ser conceptualizada como a tendência do individuo para se deixar enredar no conteúdo literal das suas cognições, encarando-as como factuais e não como interpretações da realidade. Este processo de regulação emocional tem sido negativamente associado com a qualidade de vida. O presente estudo teve como objetivo explorar de que forma a fusão cognitiva assume um papel mediador na relação entre a satisfação profissional e a qualidade de vida psicológica e, adicionalmente, testar as diferenças de grau e de comportamento das variáveis em estudo, em função do género. Para tal, foram constituídos dois grupos independentes num total de 170 sujeitos do sexo masculino e 312 do sexo feminino, entre os 18 e os 70 anos. Os resultados obtidos parecem indicar que a fusão medeia parcialmente a relação entre satisfação profissional e a qualidade de vida psicológica nos dois grupos, indicando que a relação que mantemos com os nossos pensamentos contribui, em parte, para o impacto da satisfação profissional no bem-estar. Este estudo constitui um importante contributo para futuras investigações, assim como para o desenvolvimento de estratégias de promoção da qualidade de vida na comunidade, ao enfatizar a importância da fusão cognitiva enquanto estratégia de regulação emocional mal-adaptativa.Quality of Life has been widely studied and is unanimously accepted that experiences in job context have significant impact on individual's well-being. In fact, different studies support the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective quality of life. However, little is known about possible mechanisms of emotional regulation involved in this relation. Cognitive fusion can be conceptualized as the individual's tendency to get entangled in the literal content of his/her cognitions, viewing them as factual, and not as interpretations of the reality. This emotion regulation mechanism has been negatively associated with quality of life. This study aimed to explore how cognitive fusion plays a mediating role in the relationship between job satisfaction and psychological quality of life. Furthermore, this study intended to test the differences in degree and behavior of the variables in study, according to gender. In order to do so, two independent groups were constituted of a total of 170 male subjects and 312 female subjects, between 18 and 70 years old. The obtained results seem to indicate that cognitive fusion partially mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and psychological quality of life in both groups, indicating that the relation one has with his/her thoughts contributes, in part, to the impact of job satisfaction in wellbeing. This study constitutes an important contribution to future research and to development of strategies for promoting quality of life in the community by emphasizing the importance of cognitive fusion as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy

Banks’ capital, regulation and the financial crisis

This paper investigates whether regulatory capital requirements play an important role in determining banks’ equity capital. We estimate equity capital regressions using panel data of a sample of 560 banks for 2004-2010. Our results suggest that regulatory capital requirements are not first order determinants of banks’ capital structure. We document differences on the effect of most factors on banks’ share of equity according to the type of bank and to the region of the bank. Finally, we show that the determinants of this share are sensitive to the recent international financial crisis and to a set of regulatory country factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Portuguese beef and sheep production systems

The total area of Portugal is 8.9 m ha of which 3.8 m are arable. Of the latter, 0.81 m ha is permanent grassland and 0.41 m ha is temporary forages and pastures. Total number of farms is 445,000 of which " 77% are less than 5 ha in size. Only 2% offam1s are greater than 50 ha. The total population is 9.4 m of which 49% is employed. Of those employed, 11% work in agriculture. This has fallen from 17% in 1990. Total cattle is 1.3 m including 0.36 m dairy cows and 0.25 m beef cows. Since 1990 the number of dairy cows has fallen but the number of beef cows has not increased. Dairy cows are practically all Friesian but beef cows are predominantly native breeds. Beef production systems are very variable with very small herd sizes. It is usually a secondary enterprise to vegetables or crops. Many calves are sold for slaughter at weaning at 6-8 months of age and 200 kg live weight. Total number of sheep is about 3.4 m. The main purpose of sheep farming is milk production. There are 3 main systems of production 1) intensive -reared on grass and finished on concentrates, 2) upland - lambs produced entirely off grass and conserved forages and 3) hill production with some scavenging on cereal stubbles. Mean carcass weight is 10 kg and Portugal has a deficit of lamb meat. There are a total of about 0.6 m goats

A Produção Capitalista do Conhecimento e o Papel do Conhecimento na Produção Capitalista: Uma Análise a partir da Teoria Marxista do Valor

Este artigo desenvolve uma interpretação a respeito da produção capitalista do conhecimento e também do papel do conhecimento na produção capitalista a partir da teoria do valor de Marx, buscando atualizá-la para o capitalismo contemporâneo. Parte-se de uma crítica às idéias de Prado (2005) de equiparar a renda obtida pelos proprietários da mercadoria conhecimento a juros. Argumentamos que ela é uma nova fonte de rendimento, de natureza semelhante à renda da terra. A partir daqui, desenvolvemos uma crítica também à visão de Fausto (1989), da qual parte Prado, de que com a intensificação da aplicação do conhecimento na produção capitalista o tempo de trabalho abstrato estaria deixando de ser a substância do valor.Conhecimento, Pós-Grande Indústria, Teoria do Valor

Zygosaccharomyces bailii strain talf1 inulinases: a versatile tool for bioprocesses

Fructans are one of the most abundant non-structural polysaccharides found in a wide range of plants. Inulin is a polydisperse fructan polymer composed by linear chains of b-2, 1-linked D-fructofuranose molecules terminated by a glucose residue through a sucrose-type linkage at the reducing end. Inulin or inulin-rich materials can be actively hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars (glucose and fructose) using inulinases and then further used within bioprocesses