Essays on Market Incentives, Effort and Risk-Taking Behavior

This dissertation studies the effects of compensation incentives on individual behavior. Specifically, I look at changes in effort and risk-taking behavior among financial analysts, investment managers, and teenagers. The main chapter focuses on sell-side analysts. Evidence shows that investors heed to the predictions of sell-side analysts, who influence stock market prices. The informational content of their predictions depends on their incentives to reveal unbiased information. I hypothesize that relative performance evaluations provide analysts with incentives to distort their private information. The incentive cycle of analysts starts and ends mid-year, while their predictions are validated in the middle of this cycle. Hence, analysts with good early performance benefit later from sticking to the consensus (herding), while analysts with poor early performance can only escape their low standing by taking risk and deviating from the consensus (anti-herding). I confirm the hypotheses using data from 1990 through 2010 that include analyst recommendations and stock performance. The results suggest that asset price variation that is not due to fundamental are better understood in the context of the incentives that drive analyst behavior

Dietary intake and physical activity in school age children Hábitos de ingesta y actividad física en escolares, según tipo de establecimiento al que asisten

Background: The increased infantile obesity rates are related to faulty dietary intake (DI) and physical activity (PA) habits, that are probably related to a prolonged stay at school during the day. Aim: To investigate DI and PA among elementary and high school students and their association with type of school that they attend. Material and Methods: Quality of DI and PA was assessed, using specially designed questionnaires, in 1136 elementary school and 1854 high school children attending public schools managed by city halls (ME), subsidized private (SE) and private (PE) of the Metropolitan Region. The responses to the questionnaires, were qualified using a numeric scale that ranged from 0 to 10 points. A higher score indicated a better habit. Results: Percentile 25 (p 25 th) PA score was 4 and 3 in elementary and high school children respectively and the p 25 th for DI were 5.7 and 4.3, respectively. No differences in DI scores, according to the type of school, were observed. Howeve

Higher Waist Circumference, Fasting Hyperinsulinemia And Insulin Resistance Characterize Hypertensive Patients With Impaired Glucose Metabolism

Hypertensive patients are at higher risk of pre-diabetes (impaired fasting glucose IFG and impaired glucose tolerance IGT) and type 2 DM. This study was done to examine whether some general, anthropometric, hormone, and metabolic parameters are different between subjects with normal and impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) in hypertensive subjects, thus possibly identifying some variable characterizing glucose metabolism derangement in these patients. A cohort of 134 hypertensive patients, 55 women and 79 men, aged 37-70 years, were examined. IGM patients were considered those showing IFG and/or IGT or type 2 DM after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and/or HbA1c > 48 mmol/l (6.5%) and/or glucose levels >155 mg/dL after 1 hour of the OGTT. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and fasting insulin, TSH, FT3, FT4, glucose, and lipid (cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) plasma concentrations were measured. Insulin resistance was also assessed by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMAIR). Results: Waist circumference (p < 0.05), fasting glucose (p < 0.05) and insulin levels (p < 0.05) and HOMAIR (p < 0.05) were significantly higher in patients with IGM than in control group. All other investigated parameters, as well as the number of antihypertensive drugs per single patient, were not different between the two groups. Conclusions: The present study, performed in a selected population of hypertensive subjects, shows that derangement of glucose metabolism is associated to central fat accumulation, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance

Urban Groundwater Processes and Anthropogenic Interactions (Porto Region, NW Portugal)

Groundwater in fissured rocks is one of the most important reserves of available fresh water, and urbanization applies an extremely complex pressure which puts this natural resource at risk. Two-thirds of Portugal is composed of fissured aquifers. In this context, the Porto urban region is the second biggest metropolitan area in mainland Portugal. In this study, a multidisciplinary approach was developed, using hydrogeological GIS-based mapping and modeling, combining hydrogeochemical, isotopic, and hydrodynamical data. In addition, an urban infiltration potential index (IPI-Urban) was outlined with the combination of several thematic layers. Hydrogeochemical signatures are mainly Cl-Na to Cl-SO4-Na, being dependent on the geographic proximity of this region to the ocean, and on anthropogenic and agricultural contamination processes, namely fertilizers, sewage, as well as animal and human wastes. Isotopic signatures characterize a meteoric origin for groundwater, with shallow flow paths and short residence times. Pumping tests revealed a semi- to confined system, with low long-term well capacities (<1 L/s), low transmissivities (<4 m2/day), and low storage coefficients (<10−2). The IPI-Urban index showed a low groundwater infiltration potential, which was enhanced by urban hydraulic and sanitation features. This study assessed the major hydrogeological processes and their dynamics, therefore, contributing to a better knowledge of sustainable urban groundwater systems in fractured mediaThis work was partially financed by FEDER-EU COMPETE Funds and the Portuguese Foundation for the Science and Technology, FCT (UID/GEO/04035/2020, UID/Multi/00611/2020, and GroundUrban project POCI/CTE-GEX/59081/2004), and by the Labcarga|ISEP re-equipment program (IPP-ISEP|PAD’2007/08). The research was also funded by a doctoral scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to L. Freitas (SFRH/BD/117927/2016). P.M. Carreira acknowledges the FCT support through the FCT-UIDB/04349/2020 project and J.M. Marques recognizes the FCT support through the UID/ECI/04028/2020 project.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio