The Development of Legislation on the Social Economy in Continental Western Europe

One of the main instruments for local development is the regulatory legal framework of the so-called Social Economy, a term and concept that is yet to be fully defined. The society’s approach to the generation of wealth encompasses different concepts, movements, approaches, and ways of acting, all of which pose a challenge to the determination of a precise definition. Within the European Union (E.U.), a common legislative base has been developed, although the specific legislation developed by each Member State has been uneven. The legislation may have started from the same common principles, but each country has adopted different legal forms. This work aims to outline the diverse ways of legislating on a concept that is still under construction and within similar legal frameworks, illustrating the lack of harmony between European states that, despite the sharing of borders and having common legislative foundations, distance themselves in the final legislation, a situation that does not benefit the economic unity of entrepreneurs with social principles

Event-related brain potentials in the study of inhibition: cognitive control, source localization and age-related modulations

In the previous 15 years, a variety of experimental paradigms and methods have been employed to study inhibition. In the current review, we analyze studies that have used the high temporal resolution of the event-related potential (ERP) technique to identify the temporal course of inhibition to understand the various processes that contribute to inhibition. ERP studies with a focus on normal aging are specifically analyzed because they contribute to a deeper understanding of inhibition. Three time windows are proposed to organize the ERP data collected using inhibition paradigms: the 200 ms period following stimulus onset; the period between 200 and 400 ms after stimulus onset; and the period between 400 and 800 ms after stimulus onset. In the first 200 ms, ERP inhibition research has primarily focused on N1 and P1 as the ERP components associated with inhibition. The inhibitory processing in the second time window has been associated with the N2 and P3 ERP components. Finally, in the third time window, inhibition has primarily been associated with the N400 and N450 ERP components. Source localization studies are analyzed to examine the association between the inhibition processes that are indexed by the ERP components and their functional brain areas. Inhibition can be organized in a complex functional structure that is not constrained to a specific time point but, rather, extends its activity through different time windows. This review characterizes inhibition as a set of processes rather than a unitary process

The choice of transport technology in the presence of exports and FDI

In a set-up with intermediate production, we analyze how a shipper's choice of transport technology, traditional versus modern, interacts with the mode of foreign expansion by an service firm, export versus foreign direct investment (FDI). In terms of the mode of foreign expansion by the service firm, we obtain that: due to trade in intermediate goods, trade and FDI can be complements; the export strategy dominates when the economies of scale at plant level are high and trade costs are low; the FDI strategy is preferable when market size is large and trade costs are intermediate. In what concerns the choice of transport technology by the shipper, we find that: the modern technology tends to be implemented in larger markets; economic integration can encourage the adoption of modern technology vis-à-vis the traditional one; the modern technology adoption is more likely for intermediate levels of transport costs. We then have that modern technology adoption usually occurs under the FDI strategy, since both emerge when trade costs are intermediate and market size is large.Transport Technology, Foreign Direct Investment, Trade, Service Sector, Firm Location.

Which criteria matter most in the evaluation of venture capital investments?

This study identifies the importance assigned to the various criteria used by the Portuguese Venture Capitalists (VCs) to evaluate and select early stage venture capital projects. The data was collected through a questionnaire answered by 20 Portuguese VCs. We use descriptive statistics techniques and non-parametric tests to identify the most valued criteria and test differences in the importance assigned to the criteria of several types of VCs and investments. The study reveals that the personality and experience of the entrepreneur and of the management team are the most valued groups of criteria. VCs with a majority of private share capital value more the personality of the entrepreneur and management team than the companies with a majority of public share capital. Additionally, the VCs that did not yet internationalize consider the personality of the entrepreneur and management team and the financial aspects, to be more important than the VCs that have already expanded abroad.Venture capital; Evaluation criteria; Early-stage investments; Internationalization.

A GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO NA PERSPECTIVA DA EDUCAÇÃO CONTINUADA: REFLEXÃO DA PRÁTICA SOBRE A PRÁTICA

Esta pesquisa desenvolveu estudos, e analisou as metodologias de trabalho implementadas pelos professores, com vistas à ressignificar o processo ensino e aprendizagem, utilizando as diferentes linguagens. Realizamos investigações a partir de estudos bibliográficos e aplicação de oficinas, analisando as práticas e a intervenção do professor no processo ensino e aprendizagem. Foi feita uma caracterização global dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem nas escolas pesquisadas, contextualizando a qualidade das aprendizagens, o que contribuiu para se desenhar o perfil dos alunos. Identificou-se as tendências das abordagens conceituais vigentes e predominantes, pressupostos teóricos, temáticas privilegiadas, preocupações centrais e principais lacunas do conhecimento sobre o papel social da educação para formar cidadãos autônomos, éticos, críticos e solidários. Além da pesquisa bibliográfica, foram realizadas diversas oficinas pelos alunos, com o objetivo de refletir sobre suas práticas e ressignificá-las nos sentido de apropriação da concepção crítico-reflexiva, na perspectiva da melhoria da qualidade das aprendizagens na formação docente, numa reflexão da prática sobre a prática. O trabalho teve como objetivo contribuir com os acadêmicos, na compreensão de como desenvolver a competência leitora e escritora dos estudantes, utilizando as diferentes linguagens, reelaborando aspectos da própria vida social. A relação Arte-Educação foi o paradigma que alicerçou a concretização da pesquisa

Regional expression of tourism development

This paper aims to highlight the importance of tourism to strengthen the capacities of the different regions and their resources. With this goal in mind an empirical study was conducted in a tourist destination located in the inner part of Portugal (Beira Interior), which aimed to measure the satisfaction obtained by tourists and also to identify the elements of the supply that the demand considers more important to choose this destination. The research stated that the symbolic aspects related to the specific resources of the region were the most important elements that help tourists to choose their destination and the same elements are also those that make tourists more satisfied. Assuming that the symbolic contents are in fact the underlying identity of the region, one can conclude that the more the identity of the region is reinforced, the more the difference is motivating and the more this identity is a key factor of its attractivenessregional development, differentiation, specific resources, tourist destination, demand-oriented assessment

Ibero-American Research on Local Development. An Analysis of Its Evolution and New Trends

Local development is a subject that arouses significant interest in the international scientific community in general, and in the Ibero-American one, in particular. The process of globalization has transformed the management of local development, altering the role that is played by local and regional entities, and it is the object of an important follow-up and analysis by academia. This research uses a bibliometric methodology and a fractional counting method, reviewing the 738 articles from the Scopus database in order to understand the state of Ibero-American research on local development, and analyze the scientific literature on the topic. The results show a significant increase in the number of publications in the 21st century, with Spain and Brazil leading the way. In addition, this research provides interesting results regarding the most influential authors on this topic, the most relevant journals, and the most important institutions and funding organizations. There are several areas of knowledge involved since local development is a transversal field, such as Social Science, environment, business, economics, and agriculture. A deep analysis of authors’ keywords identified new trends, linking local development with tourism, education, geotourism, climate change, local sustainable development, social innovation, and creativity, which provides academia with potential new lines of research

Dealing with appetites: Angela Carter’s fiction

Tese de doutoramento, Estudos de Literatura e de Cultura (Estudos Ingleses), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2013Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Should governments help winners or losers?

One central result in the strategic trade literature is that governments should not support domestic ”losers” but domestic ”winners”. We show that when first-mover advantages are taken into account, the reverse holds, governments have stronger incentives to support domestic ”losers” that face foreign ”winners”. Accordingly, governments can play Stackelberg against foreign Stackelberg leaders to prevent them from playing Stackelberg against domestic Stackelberg followers

Migration policy, illegal migrants, self-selection and brain drain

We compare two migration policies: an open migration policy, where all migrants can migrate legally; and a selective migration policy, where migrants are selected according to skills. We show that since the selective migration policy can create illegal migration, it has the following effects relatively to the open migration policy: (1) it weakens the chances of a positive self-selection of skilled migrants; (2) it reduces the possibility of a beneficial brain gain; and (3) it dampens the effectiveness of education policies. Accordingly, since illegal migration can conduce to brain waste (i.e.: skilled workers working as unskilled), the selective migration policy reduces the incentives of individuals to acquire education and of skilled workers to migrate