Is there evidence for the existence of a financial accelerator mechanism in the Portuguese manufacturing sector?

In recent times, due to developments in the field of information economics, there was a rationalization of the link between financial factors and fluctuations in economic activity (Bernanke et al. 1996; Gertler 1988). An issue that has been highlighted is the possibility that fluctuations in economic activity can be induced (or amplified) by fragilities in a firm's financial position-the so-called financial accelerator mechanism. Based on this reasoning, I aim to contribute to the empirical literature on this issue by testing the following three hypotheses: (a) the financial position of a firm is a major determinant of its capital investment decisions; (b) the financial position of a firm is more important for firms that face higher information problems in financial markets; and (c) the financial position of a firm is even more important for firms that face higher information problems in financial markets at times of economic recession. Aggregate data for 16 industrial sectors, covering a period of time from 1990 to 2005, was used in the empirical study. These data were obtained from the Central Balance-Sheet Database of the Portuguese Central Bank. In this database, economic and financial information on Portuguese nonfinancial firms is included.

Regionalist projects of Rogério de Azevedo

In the work of the architect Rogério de Azevedo – mostly realised from end of twenties to forties – the regionalist option was always present. Sometimes by his own initiative, sometimes as an answer to the rules of governmental programmes. Regardless of the condition of the State to work with regional types to built in series, supposedly respectful of local sensitivities, the constraints and technical materials led the architect to adopted techniques and appropriate languages, in a personal interpretation, were modernism and vernacular are mixed. Here a decisive factor is the counterpoint between the project for the city and the project for the rural environment. If in some cases the State order was determinant, in others, particularly in projects of late twenties and early forties, the architect and his vision of the relationship between the placements, the materials available and expressive values that inform his work, are the reason of being of his works.Este texto foi co-financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P. (PIDDAC) e pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional – FEDER, através do COMPETE – Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade (POFC), no âmbito do projecto "Fotografia, Arquitectura Moderna e a «Escola do Porto»: Interpretações em torno do Arquivo Teófilo Rego" (PTDC/ATP-AQI/4805/2012

Rogério de Azevedo’s Regionalist Drift

The work of architect Rogério de Azevedo—mostly built between the late 1920s and the 1940s—always included the recourse to regionalism, whether as a response to government programs or as the architect’s own initiative. Decisive for him was the between the city project the rural project Despite the State’s ability to work with regional types that could be constructed in series, purportedly in line with local sensitivities, a number of constraints and technical led the architect to adopt techniques and to appropriate languages into a singularly personal interpretation in which the modern and the vernacular are combined. If in some cases State order was determinant, in others, particularly in projects of the late 1920s and early 1940s, the architect and his vision of the relationship between the placements, of the available materials and the expressive values that inform his work, are the reason of being of his works.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Collages and photomontages in architectural representation. The photographic works of Teófilo Rego

Graphically manipulated photographs were frequently used to illustrate the impact of the projected building on the existing cityscape or landscape, in particular, in those cases, where the projects had a monumental scale. We discouvered two sorts of documents at Teófilo Rego Archive: on the one hand, the collages and photomontages made by architects and photographed by Teófilo Rego; on the other hand, collages and photomontages made by Teófilo Rego at the commission of architects, a work whose depth seems to indicate the collaboration, a free, curious and imaginative spirit of research and the deepening of the formal and expressive hypothesis proportionated by the commission. In the second group are included the photographs of four projects of the International Competition for the monument to the Infante D. Henrique in Sagres, 1954/1957. The photomontages and collages contained in the specification and in the draft’s process submitted by João Andresen, and the photomontages of the projects by Nadir Afonso and Manuel da Silva Passos Junior must have been a form of project impact statement from their authors, and certainly represent a period of great creativity as concerns Teófilo Rego. All photomontages by Teófilo Rego are constructed images, the result of a rational being, but are also emotional. As his gaze approaches the models, the images become abstract, and deviate from a possible illusion of reality. Whereas the compositions on the territory and the monument demanded a certain expressive naturalism more than realism, it is the geometric abstraction of architectural form that prevails in the close-ups.This text was co-funded with FEDER funds by the Operational Competitiveness Programme – COMPETE and national funds by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the project Photography, Modern Architecture and the “School of Oporto”: Interpretations Around Teófilo Rego Archive (PTDC/ ATP-AQI/4805/2012 - FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028054

The financial accelerator mechanism : the case of portuguese small manufacturing firms

Recent developments in the field of information economics have led to the establishment of a link between financial factors and fluctuations in economic activity. An issue that has been highlighted is the possibility that fluctuations in economic activity can be induced by fragilities in the financial status of firms. This fact is known as the financial accele rator mechanism. In terms of company investment, the impact of the financial accelerator means that financial variables (such as, balance sheet position and cash flows) affect firms’ investment decisions. The objective of this paper is to analyse the ex istence of a financial accelerator mechanism in the case of small Portuguese manufacturing firms. In order to do so, an investment function was estimated based on the sales-accelerator principle but integrating variables that reflect the financial status of the firm. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) financial factors are important for all companies; (2) financial factors are more important for companies more affected by information problems in the capital markets; and (3) financial factors are even more important for these companies at times of economic recession

Evidence on the investment-cash flow sensitivity for a panel of portuguese manufacturing firms

In the last two decades, a renewed interest about the influence of financial factors on a firm’s capital investment decision emerged. In fact, theoretical developments that occurred in the field of information economics, which emphasised the existence of information problems in financial markets, allowed to rationalise a close relationship between financial factors and investment expenses of firms. This paper aims at contributing to the empirical literature on this subject, presenting the results of an empirical study undertaken for a panel of Portuguese manufacturing firms. The results obtained suggest that the impact of financial factors on investment decisions of firms is greater for those facing higher information problems in financial markets, such as: small, young and low retention firms

Business fixed investment: the case of the Portuguese manufacturing industry

The objective of this paper is to present the results of a study undertaken on the identification of the main determinants of business fixed investment decisions in the Portuguese manufacturing industry. Special attention was given to the validity of the financial constraint hypothesis. This can be seen in the light of the strong connection between the investment decisions of the firm and their cash flows. The independence between the firm’s investment and financing decisions is thus not possible. A sample of 808 firms belonging to the manufacturing sector was used. This sample was divided into two groups according to a number of criteria (size of firm, maturity, and equity to total assets ratio) in order to identify differences in the investment behaviour of these two groups. The main results of this study were: (1) the financial restrictions hypothesis is valid; (2) the estimated coefficients of the cash flows are higher for firms that are a priori less exposed to information problems

Universities' contributions to social innovation: towards a theoretical framework

There has been much interest of late in the analysis of the regional role of universities from the point of view of what is known as the universities’ third mission, which comprises those activities related to technology transfer, lifelong learning, and social (or community) engagement. In this context, the third mission of universities can be defined as a phenomenon in which universities are encouraged to realise their broader socio-economic potential through knowledge exchange and partnerships (Vorley and Nelles, 2008). The first research in this field was primarily directed towards economic issues, around technology transfer and lifelong learning activities. However, one dimension of universities’ third mission that remains relatively untapped by the literature is how universities’ other kinds of knowledge contributions can drive wider societal development, in particular related to processes around community engagement (Benneworth, 2013). We argue that universities possess all resources necessary to support community development processes beyond the business sphere and that the underdevelopment of the community mission appears to represent a clear lacuna in the literature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to make a contribution to a more systematic understanding of university-community engagement and hence to bring back some balance and perspective to literatures around university social contributions more generally. To do so, we focus on one particular relevant mechanism, social innovation and propose a conceptual framework to understand how universities can contribute to processes of social innovation