How we got Here? A Methodology to Study the Evolution of Economies

This paper proposes a methodology to analyze the evolution of the economic development of countries. Our approach is based upon the definition of temporal trajectories of countries in a common bidimensional space yielded by a High-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD). These trajectories are defined with respect to a pre-selected set of macroeconomic indicators and are appropriate for comparison purposes. To show the applicability of the proposed methodology we have used data from the World Bank concerning the economic and financial development of EU-27 over a 14-year span, that goes from 1995 to 2008. Based on this data we group the EU-27 state members according to their economic development, which is indicated by the position of their trajectories on the plane. We further perform individual analyses of the trajectories of Luxembourg, Germany and Portugal, aiming to both detect and interpret trends and changes in these economies. The results show that this methodology is of importance for economic studies, since it can help the design, monitoring and evaluation of specific economic policies, as well as provide an overview of the evolution of the studied economic phenomenon.European Union, HOSVD, International Comparisons, Temporal Trajectories

The influence of the sociodemographic context of families on children's oral health: research study

Objectives: Evaluate whether the socio-demographic and economic context of the families of a population (whose children receive dental treatments at Clínicas Pedagógicas de Medicina Dentária da Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Fernando Pessoa) has an impact on the oral health of pediatric patients, their oral health behaviors and adherence to dental appointments. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carry out, applying a face-to-face questionnaire for parents/legal guardians of children aged 2 to 12 years old receiving dental treatment at CPMD FCS-UFP. The oral health status of the child was assessed by consulting the records made in the first Pediatric Dental appointment, in the odontogram of the computer program available in the pedagogical clinic for this purpose. Descriptive/inferential data analysis was performed using IBM© SPSS© Statistics vs. 29.0 software (p2), as these were associated (p<0.05) with an increased median of the number of decayed teeth and/or the number of missing teeth and/or the number of filled teeth and/or the decayed, missing and filled teeth index. Conclusions: The dentists’ recognition of these socio-demographic and economic disparities is vital for appropriate intervention. Enhancing the oral health literacy of caregivers becomes crucial in addressing information accessibility gaps among diverse social groups.Objetivos: Avaliar se o contexto sócio-demográfico e económico de famílias (cujas crianças frequentam as Clínicas Pedagógicas de Medicina Dentária da Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade Fernando Pessoa) tem impacto na saúde oral da criança, nos seus comportamentos de saúde oral e na adesão às consultas de medicina dentária. Materiais e métodos: Foi realizado um estudo observacional transversal, através da aplicação de um questionário presencial aos responsáveis de crianças entre os 2 e os 12 anos que realizaram tratamentos dentários nas CPMD FCS-UFP. O estado de saúde oral foi avaliado através da consulta do odontograma, no programa informático disponível para o efeito. A análise descritiva/inferencial dos dados foi efetuada com o software IBM© SPSS© Statistics vs. 29.0 (p<0,05). Resultados: Foram obtidas 40 respostas. Encontraram-se alguns impactos significativos relativamente à menor escolaridade dos cuidadores (3º ciclo ou menos), menor nível de rendimento do agregado familiar e maior número de filhos (>2), uma vez que estes se associaram (p<0,05) a um aumento da mediana do número de dentes cariados e/ou do número de dentes perdidos e/ou do número de dentes obturados e/ou do índice de dentes cariados, perdidos e obturados. Conclusões: O reconhecimento por parte do médico dentista destas disparidades sócio-demográficas e económicas é essencial para uma intervenção adequada. A melhoria da literacia dos responsáveis acerca da saúde oral torna-se crucial para colmatar as lacunas de acessibilidade à informação entre os diversos grupos sociais

Percepção Dos Auditores Federais Do Controle Externo Quanto À Autonomia Do Tribunal De Contas Da União

TCC (Graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Socioeconômico. Curso de Ciências ContábeisO objetivo dessa pesquisa é identificar a percepção dos Auditores Federais do Controle Externo (AUFC) sobre a estrutura funcional, administrativa e financeira da instituição (TCU), a qual é responsável pelo controle externo (junto ao Poder Legislativo). A metodologia utilizada foi a aplicação de questionário, por meio eletrônico, com uma amostra não probabilística, com a participação de Auditores de algumas secretarias regionais do controle externo. Após a coleta de dados, procedeu-se uma análise, predominantemente, qualitativa sobre os resultados obtidos. Pode-se observar que na percepção dos Auditores que compuseram a amostra, a Corte de Contas brasileira possui significativa independência institucional reconhecida em lei e demais normas que regem o TCU. Porém, os mesmo evidenciaram que a forma atual de escolha dos ministros, a existência de pressões externas, como influência política, e o quadro limitado de Auditores, nas Secretarias de Controle Externo (SECEX), afeta a autonomia administrativa e funcional da instituição, o que na prática prejudica a atuação da instituição no auxílio à transparência da gestão pública e no combate à corrupção. Outro ponto ressaltado, quanto à funcionalidade do TCU, foi a burocracia e a falta de tempestividade, tanto no planejamento e execução, como nas decisões posteriores à fiscalização, o que pode gerar viés e pouca efetividade dos resultados obtidos

G20 2014: reform of the international organisations, financial regulation, trade, accountability and anti-corruption

This issue of the G20 Monitor discusses the reform of international economic institutions, financial regulation, and the trade, accountability and anti-corruption agendas at the forthcoming Brisbane G20 Summit. It also provides a summary of the key ideas from the ‘G20 Conference: Strengthening Accountability and Effectiveness’ hosted by the Lowy Institute. Key findings: If the G20 is truly to be the world’s premier forum for international economic cooperation, fostering the reform of international economic institutions needs to be a fundamental objective. Ex ante regulatory impact assessments are an important tool for strengthening financial regulation and fostering financial stability globally. Trade, anti-corruption, and the accountability of the G20 are important agenda items for the forthcoming Brisbane Summit and go to the heart of the G20’s aim to boost growth and resilience

Automatic Activation of Phonological Templates for Native but Not Nonnative Phonemes: An Investigation of the Temporal Dynamics of Mu Activation

Models of speech perception suggest a dorsal stream connecting the temporal and inferior parietal lobe with the inferior frontal gyrus. This stream is thought to involve an auditory-motor loop that translates acoustic information into motor/articulatory commands and is further influenced by decision making processes that involve maintenance of working memory or attention. Parsing out dorsal stream’s speech specific mechanisms from memory related ones in speech perception poses a complex problem. Here I argue that these processes may be disentangled from the viewpoint of the temporal dynamics of sensorimotor neural activation around a speech perception related event. Methods: Alpha (~10Hz) and beta (~20Hz) spectral components of the mu () rhythm, localized to sensorimotor regions, have been shown to index somatosensory and motor activity, respectively. In the present work, event related spectral perturbations (ERSP) of the EEG -rhythm were analyzed, while manipulating two factors: active/passive listening, and perception of native/nonnative phonemes. Active and passive speech perception tasks were used as indexes of memory load employed, while native and. nonnative perception were used as indexes of automatic top-down coding for sensory analysis. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the oscillatory patterns of components between active and passive speech perception conditions with greater alpha and beta event related desynchronization (ERD) after stimuli offset in active speech perception. When compared to listening to noise, passive speech perception presented significantly (pFDR Conclusion: These findings suggest that neural processes within the dorsal auditory stream are functionally and automatically involved in speech perception mechanisms. While its early activity (shortly after stimuli onset) seems to be importantly involved with the instantiation of predictive motor/articulatory internal models that help constraining speech discrimination, its later activity (post-stimulus offset) seems essential in the maintenance of working memory processes

Proposal of a methodology for customer relationship management adoption in small and medium enterprises : a multiple case study

Mestrado em MarketingHow Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is regarded has been changing over time, and is currently a phenomenon with considerable importance, not only for big organizations but also for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), due to the competitiveness that presently exists. After the literature review about the theme, the research questions emerged were: Why do SMEs need to implement CRM? How is CRM implemented in SMEs? In this, we proposed a methodology for the adoption of CRM by SMEs. A multiple case study, with an exploratory approach, was conducted. Data was collected throught semi-structured interviews in 6 organizations, with a total of 19 interviews. These organizations needed to be SMEs and to have a CRM strategy implemented in it already. Although, there are many SMEs that do not have the necessary resources to implement an adequate combined CRM strategy as well as CRM software, many result in using other programs that are more accessible, but not without limitations. This study proposes a suggestion for CRM adoption in SMEs, taking into consideration the analysis of the current CRM strategies employed by 6 different Portuguese SMEs, their characteristics, qualities and limitations, as well as their current experience. In our sample we were alble to observe that most processes corroborated what was presented in the literature. However, there were some exceptions that are discussed and that may be of importance in the Portuguese current context.A forma como o CRM (Customer Relationship Management) é visto tem-se modificado ao longo dos tempos, e actualmente é um fenómeno de grande importância, não apenas para as grandes empresas mas também para as PMEs (Pequenas e Médias Empresas) devido a competitividade existente hoje em dia. Após a revisão de literatura sobre o tema, surgiu o problema de investigação que foi: porque é que as PMEs necessitam de implementar o CRM? Como é que as PMEs implementam o CRM? Para tal, foi proposta uma metolodogia de adopção de CRM nas PMEs. Foram realizados estudos de caso múltiplos com abordagem exploratória. Os dados foram recolhidos através de entrevistas semi-estrutruradas a seis empresas, totalizando 19 entrevistas. Estas empresas tinham de ser PMEs e tinham de ter CRM implementado. No entanto, existem muitas PMES que não possuem os recursos necessários para a implementação de uma estratégia de CRM adequada e de um software de CRM, recorrendo a outros programas mais acessíveis, mas não sem limitações. Este estudo propõe uma sugestão para a adoção de CRM nas PMEs, tendo em consideração a análise das estratégias de CRM nas 6 diferentes PMEs Portuguesas, as suas características, qualidades e limitações, e actual experiência. Na nossa amostra pudemos observar que a maioria dos processos corraboram com o que foi apresentado na literatura. No entanto, há algumas excepções que são discutidas e que podem ser importantes no contexto português actual

Determinants of firm failure in Portugal in 2010-2013

Firm failure is a cause and effect of economic recessions. Lower market demand can have enormous impact on firms’ businesses. As some cannot rely on their activity to safeguard a source of income, others are constrained by their clients’ inability to pay. Businesses may then collapse, contributing to job destruction, which in turn, can only further depressed economic conditions. Analysing firm failure determinants is therefore crucial. This work project proposes an analysis of financial-performance indicators on Portuguese firms during the 2010-2013 period. Variables analysed include impairment losses, short-term and long-term debt. These variables were analysed over different sub-samples to determine their effects on firm failure probability in specific contexts