Explaining local manufacturing growth in Chile : the advantages of sectoral diversity

This paper investigates whether the agglomeration of economic activity in regional clusters affects long-run manufacturing total factor productivity growth in an emerging market context. It explores a large firm-level panel dataset for Chile during a period characterized by high growth rates and rising regional income inequality (1992-2004). The findings are clear-cut. Locations with greater concentration of a particular sector did not experience faster growth in total factor productivity during this period. Rather, local sector diversity was associated with higher long-run growth in total factor productivity. However, there is no evidence that the diversity effect was driven by the local interaction with a set of suppliers and/or clients. The authors interpret this as evidence that agglomeration economies are driven by other factors, such as the sharing of access to specialized inputs not provided solely by a single sector, such as skills or financing.Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Economic Growth,Political Economy,Achieving Shared Growth

Openness and technological innovations in developing countries : evidence from firm-level surveys

The authors analyze the role of international technological diffusion for firm-level technological innovations in several developing countries. Their findings show that, after controlling for firm, industry, and country characteristics, exporting and importing activities are important channels for the diffusion of technology. They also find evidence that the majority of foreign-owned firms are significantly less likely to engage in technological innovations than minority foreign-owned firms or domestic-owned firms. The authors interpret this finding as evidence that the technology transferred from multinational parents to majority-owned subsidiaries is more mature than that transferred to minority-owned subsidiaries. This finding supports the idea that equity joint ventures maximize technology transfers to local firms.Technology Industry,ICT Policy and Strategies,Education for Development (superceded),Innovation,Foreign Direct Investment

The Second Order Traffic Fine: Temporal Reasoning in European Transport Regulations

We argue that European transport regulations can be formalized within the Sigma^1_1 fragment of monadic second order logic, and possibly weaker fragments including linear temporal logic. We consider several articles in the regulation to verify these claims

The role of the regulator to promote the sustainability of water supply in Portugal

PosterWater is considered one of the most important natural resources and according to its scarcity and cost, it necessary to implement a sustainable management of its use. One of the reasons for the unsustainable management of the sector in Portugal is the failure of the national Strategic Plan 2006-2013. It is no surprise that, either in relation to coverage ratios, or with respect to the quality of the water supplied, Portugal is meeting the goals set out by the government. The of sustainability of the sector is another one, it’s related to the way the sector is organized and managed. Regarding the reorganization of the sector with a concentration of operators (ending micro operators without technical and financial dimension), the vertical systems (from catchment to home delivery), the desired concentration ranges (in water supply and wastewater treatment), the use of partnerships between the State and the municipalities and a uniform tariff, nothing has been done and none of these aspects of the government objectives have been implemented. It is therefore necessary to create or strengthen the institutions that promote the protection of water resources. Among these institutions the Regulatory Authority and Waste Water Services (ERSAR) plays a central role, with a wide range of functions from defending the quality of the water services, its fair distribution, the sustainability of water resources, the respect of legal mechanisms, the training and information of and on the sector, to the financial and taxes instruments. As Gerlach and Franceys (2010:1229) refer: "the new regulators face the tremendous challenge of stimulating and supporting water service providers to improve their poor performance record, which affects the disproportionately lower income population" and "[...] regulators are required to balance politically potentially sensitive and conflicting efficiency and welfare objectives." The objective of this study is to deepen the knowledge of the framework and role of ERSAR powers, allowing make sustainable management of water supply systems in Portugal, after the high investments made in the sector in the last 20 years. These results will be obtained based on bibliographic research, application of a survey to different entities with competences in water services in European Union (Benchmarking) and application of a Interview to key actors (municipalities) in Setúbal District, in Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neuroprotective peptides in Alzheimer's disease:structural characterization an affinity of ß-amyloid and human cystatin C peptides interactions

Tese de mestrado, Biologia (Biologia Humana e Ambiente), 2009, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasLarge abstract in englis

As crianças e a internet em Portugal: perfis de uso

Baseado num inquérito por questionário a crianças portuguesas, este artigo pretende caracterizar a posse e utilização da internet. Tendo-se verificado que as crianças se agrupam em quatro perfis distintos de utilizadores — os “internautas convictos”, os “estudantes aplicados”, os “jogadores inveterados” e os “utilizadores incipientes” — demonstra-se que estes perfis são fortemente condicionados por variáveis como o sexo e a idade da criança, o nível de escolaridade e a categoria socioprofissional dos pais. A estes perfis correspondem também diferentes formas de mediação parental e distintas representações sobre a internet

Loss of YABBY2-Like Gene Expression May Underlie the Evolution of the Laminar Style in Canna and Contribute to Floral Morphological Diversity in the Zingiberales.

The Zingiberales is an order of tropical monocots that exhibits diverse floral morphologies. The evolution of petaloid, laminar stamens, staminodes, and styles contributes to this diversity. The laminar style is a derived trait in the family Cannaceae and plays an important role in pollination as its surface is used for secondary pollen presentation. Previous work in the Zingiberales has implicated YABBY2-like genes, which function in promoting laminar outgrowth, in the evolution of stamen morphology. Here, we investigate the evolution and expression of Zingiberales YABBY2-like genes in order to understand the evolution of the laminar style in Canna. Phylogenetic analyses show that multiple duplication events have occurred in this gene lineage prior to the diversification of the Zingiberales. Reverse transcription-PCR in Canna, Costus, and Musa reveals differential expression across floral organs, taxa, and gene copies, and a role for YABBY2-like genes in the evolution of the laminar style is proposed. Selection tests indicate that almost all sites in conserved domains are under purifying selection, consistent with their functional relevance, and a motif unique to monocot YABBY2-like genes is identified. These results contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of floral morphologies

Left Ventricular Noncompaction

Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is accepted as an unclassified (the American Heart Association) or a genetic cardiomyopathy (the European Society of Cardiology), but some argue that this phenotype may be a morphologic trait shared by different cardiomyopathies. This chapter covers the state of the art on the pathology, underlying mechanisms, its clinical manifestations, and diagnosis and treatment modalities of LVNC. LVNC may be defined as follows: an inner non‐compacted layer with prominent left ventricular trabeculae and deep intertrabecular recesses and a thin outer compacted layer. Mechanisms are still debatable, with the hypothesis of compaction arrest during embryogenesis as the most accepted theory. Genetic data support LVNC as a distinct cardiomyopathy, although evidence for LVNC as a shared morphological trait is not ruled out, since LVNC may be associated with other cardiomyopathies, congenital heart diseases and in some cases may be acquired. Diagnosis is based on imaging and may be confirmed by the use of genetics. Clinical picture and prognosis and the management options are discussed