Stylised features of price setting behaviour in Portugal: 1992-2001

This paper identifies the empirical stylized features of price setting behaviour in Portugal using the micro-datasets underlying the consumer and the producer price indexes. The main conclusions are the following: 1 in every 4 prices change each month; there is a considerable degree of heterogeneity in price setting practices; consumer prices of goods change more often than consumer prices of services; producer prices of consumption goods vary more often than producer prices of intermediate goods; for comparable commodities, consumer prices change more often than producer prices; price reductions are common, as they account for around 40 per cent of total price changes; price changes are, in general, sizeable; finally, the price setting patterns at the consumer level seem to depend on the level of inflation as well as on the type of outlet. JEL Classification: E31, E32, L11consumer prices, frequency of price changes, price setting, producer prices

Stylised Features of Price Setting Behaviour in Portugal: 1992-2001

This paper identifies the empirical stylized features of price setting behaviour in Portugal using the micro-datasets underlying the consumer and the producer price indexes. The main conclusions are the following: 1 in every 4 prices change each month; there is a considerable degree of heterogeneity in price setting practices; consumer prices of goods change more often than consumer prices of services; producer prices of consumption goods vary more often than producer prices of intermediate goods; for comparable commodities, consumer prices change more often than producer prices; price reductions are common, as they account for around 40 per cent of total price changes; price changes are, in general, sizeable; finally, the price setting patterns at the consumer level seem to depend on the level of inflation as well as on the type of outlet.

Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics

This paper reviews a range of the most popular policy evaluation methods in empirical microeconomics: social experiments, natural experiments, matching methods, instrumental variables, discontinuity design and control functions. It discusses the identification of both the traditionally used average parameters and more complex distributional parameters. In each case, the necessary assumptions and the data requirements are considered. The adequacy of each approach is discussed drawing on the empirical evidence from the education and labor market policy evaluation literature. We also develop an education evaluation model which we use to carry through the discussion of each alternative approach. A full set of STATA datasets are provided free online which contain Monte-Carlo replications of the various specifications of the education evaluation model. There are also a full set of STATA .do files for each of the estimation approaches described in the paper. The .do-files can be used together with the datasets to reproduce all the results in the paper.Evaluation methods, policy evaluation, matching methods, instrumental variables, social experiments, natural experiments, difference-in-differences, discontinuity design, control function.

Q&A: Who needs a centrosome?

The centrosome has several functions. The central one is as the major microtubule organizing center (MTOC) in proliferating animal cells: thus, it helps to organize the microtubules that form the mitotic spindle in dividing cells, and orchestrate a wide variety of cellular processes, including cell motility, signaling, adhesion, coordination of protein trafficking by the microtubule cytoskeleton and the acquisition of polarity. The centrosome has crucial links to the nucleus, the Golgi, cell to cell junctions and acto-myosin cytoskeleton that are very important in positioning it and thus shaping the microtubule cytoskeleton in relation to the cell and the organism (reviewed in [1]). The role of the centrosome in organizing cellular microtubules can differ from cell to cell and be regulated differently in different phases of the life of a cell.Laboratório Associado de Oeiras, EMBO Installation Grant: (co-funded by FCT and Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência), FCT, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

Representação socioprofissional dos enfermeiros - percepção dos utentes

Este artigo pretende apresentar alguns resultados obtidos numa pesquisa, efectuada no âmbito do mestrado em Gestão da Saúde, subordinada ao tema – A imagem dos enfermeiros percepcionada pelos doentes que cuida: Representações socioprofissionais dos enfermeiros. A enfermagem tem vindo a assumir ao longo da sua história um papel preponderante em múltiplos domínios de intervenção na área da saúde. Tem procurado responder aos desafios de partilhar experiências que possam de algum modo contribuir para firmar a identidade específica e o desempenho da profissão. De facto, assumindo um lugar cada vez mais distinto, a enfermagem tem-se afirmado como uma profissão em rápida mudança acompanhando a evolução científica e tecnológica. Considerando a enfermagem, esta é também investigação que surge em contexto de trabalho, despertando o tema tratado grande interesse, pois permitiu aceder a diversas imagens e representações do que é ser enfermeiro do ponto de vista dos utentes que cuida. Portanto, o principal objectivo era compreender a imagem socioprofissional do enfermeiro enquanto profissional de saúde. O estudo empírico baseou-se na realização de 210 questionários aplicados através de entrevistas aos doentes internados nos serviços de Cardiologia e Ortopedia do Hospital São Teotónio de Viseu. Pelos resultados do estudo podemos constatar que a valorização da prática profissional e ética, a prestação e gestão de cuidados, as relações interpessoais e o desenvolvimento profissional, não variam significativamente com a idade, com o estado civil, com o tempo, com o número de internamentos e o motivo de internamento, nem em função do serviço onde os utentes estiveram internados. Podemos ainda constatar que nestas dimensões são valorizadas de modo significativo pelos utentes a competência, a simpatia, sendo também reconhecida a importância do conhecimento como uma característica da maior competência do enfermeiro. No decorrer deste artigo encontram-se alguns resultados que emergiram das respostas obtidas e que nos parecem evidenciar, por um lado, a importância reconhecida à enfermagem, e, por outro, a representação e a imagem positiva que os utentes têm do enfermeiro