Sectoral Leadership in International Competitiveness

The purpose of this paper is to identify the type of labour and the sectors where labour productivity should be improved to raise the international competitiveness of Portugal. A static multi-sectoral general equilibrium model, with multi-national and single-country versions is used. The model allows the identification of the sectors that are leaders in competitiveness improvement. It is expectable that for some countries this role should be played by the traditional exporting-sectors, while for other countries the effort should be concentrated on the suppliers of intermediate goods. The results show that the choice of sector, and type of labour are crucial for the improvement of the international competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. In addition, the criterion used to measure competitiveness also has an important role. While the multifactor productivity is especially increased when the promotion of labour competencies occurs in exporting-sectors and importing-sectors, the population welfare have a greater impact with the generalised improvement of unskilled labour competencies.General equilibrium models, competitiveness, productivity.

International Competitiveness: is the reduction of wages a solution? An evolution for the Portuguese case

The purpose of this paper is to analyse, for the case of Portugal, the effectiveness of a wage reduction - a current proposal since 2011 to help the country to reverse the high public and external debts - in promoting the efficiency and the international competitiveness of the economy. A static multi-sector and single-country general equilibrium model is used and data is collected from GTAP7 Data Base. The model allows the measurement of changes by sector. The simulations performed show that extending the reduction of wages already deployed by the government in the public sector to the private one leads to a positive impact on employment (both skilled and unskilled labour), production and volume of exports in all sectors except those that are R&D intensive, characterized by a low weight in the Portuguese economy. However it is possible that the positive results in terms of external competitiveness are not sustainable as the impact on productivity is negative, albeit small, for most sectors. There is also reasons for concern regarding the observed deterioration of the trade balance of most sectors, the exception being the traditional labour intensive sectors that show good prospects in this respect

Sectoral Leadership in International Competitiveness: the Portuguese case

The purpose of this paper is to identify the type of labour and the sectors where labour productivity should be improved to elevate the international competitiveness of Portugal. A static multi-sectoral general equilibrium model, with multinational and single-country versions, is used. This model permits the identification of sectors that are leaders in competitiveness improvement. In some countries, traditional export sectors are expected to assume this role, whereas the suppliers of intermediate goods possess the potential to fulfil this function in other countries. The results of this study show that the choice of sector and type of labour are crucial for improving the international competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. The criterion used to measure competitiveness also has an important role. Whereas multifactor productivity is especially increased when the promotion of labour competencies occurs in import and export sectors, population welfare has a greater impact, with the generalised improvement of unskilled labour competencies

The input-output table for the Alentejo region in Portugal

Portugal is a not a homogenous territory even though it is a small country. Each region has different characteristics, which makes the country as an evident case for the need of an effective cohesion policy leading to a diminishment of regional disparities. This paper presents a preliminary version of the input-output table for Alentejo, a Portuguese region through the regionalization of the input-output national table, for the year 2008. As it is well known the input-output (IO) model is particularly appropriate for the analysis of the effects of demand on supply (possibly in territorial/regional terms). As such, from the descriptive point of view, the IO model is useful for the analysis of explanatory factors of (regional) growth. Moreover, from a decision-making point of view it allows to support (regional) policy making in order to change (in the most favorable possible way) the (regional) production structure. This is particularly important for the fragile region of Alentejo, while the largest one, where such instruments are scarce. Furthermore, the second quadrant, from which demand effects can be considered and extended to third quadrant, where a proper quantification of inter-regional imports is to be considered, complete the table. From the production perspective, our preliminary results suggest weak inter- sectors relations in the Alentejo region making it susceptible to lose a substantial part of the potential effects, which may spillover to other Portuguese regions. In particular, more than 75% of the indirect effects are below 0.05. Furthermore, tobacco, food, beverages, crude refineries, fishing & aquaculture, clothing and agriculture sectors have the most relevant type II multipliers. However, only clothing and beverages have higher aggregate indirect effects over all other industries as a result of an increase of one euro on their final demands. Regarding type I multipliers, our results suggests a different picture. Forestry, tobacco, leather, beverages, among other have important direct and indirect effect. These results have important policy implications in this fragile region. There is, however, another possible use of the model, based on the determination of how to alter the production structure, in order to potentiate the effect of drag of all sectors of production, which may have great potential for development of strategies for economic policy

International Competitiveness: is the reduction of wages the solution?

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effectiveness of the wage reduction in promoting efficiency and the international competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. A static multi-sectoral and single-country general equilibrium model will be used for the Portuguese case using the data from GTAP7 Data Base. The model allows measuring the changes by sectors. The simulations performed show that the reduction of wages in all sectors lead to negative effects on the productivity and the trade balance of the majority of sectors, albeit small. Only the labour intensive sectors depict an improvement of the trade balance

Nota da direção

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Trends in Business Cycles Synchronization in the EMU

The synchronization of business cycles is associated with optimal currency areas. Being a prerequisite for membership in such a zone was questioned by the view that the synchronization of economic cycles would result from the very operation of the optimal currency zone. An empirical observation of the business cycles in the Eurozone seems, however, to show that this synchronization has not increased, especially in relation to the so-called peripheral countries, which of course raises questions about that association. The chapter therefore seeks to verify whether the synchronization of the business cycles of the Eurozone countries has actually increased or, if it has decreased, in which countries this has taken place

Nota da direção

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Breves considerações sobre a comparticipação nos delitos civis

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