Debt and Taxes: Evidence from bank-financed unlisted firms

This paper analyzes the capital structure decision of non-listed bank-financed firms using a rich and unique new data set of Portuguese firms. These firms are rarely studied in capital structure contexts and differ from large listed firms in terms of agency and asymmetric information problems and funding sources. It is argued that the solution of agency and asymmetric information problems for large firms shows up on the balance sheet (as restrictions on debt) whereas for small firms these problems are solved by financial institutions and are therefore less apparent on the balance sheet. This makes it easier for small firms to exploit tax advantages of debt. The empirical analysis shows that debt tax shields and provisions for tax loss carry-forwards have an important impact on the capital structure of small firms. It is also found that the balance sheet variables used for large listed firms in different countries to model agency costs and asymmetric information do not work well for small non-listed firms. The only significant variables (besides tax variables) for small firms are bankruptcy (collateral) variablesCapital Structure; Debt; Marginal Tax Rate; Trade-off Theory;

Territory and entrepreneurial performance An exercise on some industrial Portuguese regions

The present paper was motivated by the recent interest put on the regional context as having a major role tracing economic agents behaviours and inducing productive activity. Three main goals have been defined: to emphasise the relation between favourable regional factors for development and firm performance in the case of the most industrialised Portuguese regions; to distinguish in each region its own propensity for sustainable development and to evaluate if the region may be considered as intrinsic co-operative or resistant to co-operation. Methodologically, the analysis followed three major steps: 1) selection of regions with industrial characteristics; 2) creation and use of the endogenous growth capacity indicators; 3) consequent analysis of the SMEs (small and medium size firms) behaviour’s evolution. Based on Multivariate Analysis, the following regions were selected: Ave, Entre Douro e Vouga, Baixo Vouga, Pinhal Litoral and Península de Setúbal. Basically, they represent the areas where industrial activity is predominant in Portugal. When comparing the observed local environmental conditions of these regions with the results for the performance of their small firms, some conclusions could be achieved, regarding to three major issues: the relation between regional development factors development and firm performance; the regional propensity for sustainable development and the regional adequacy to networking. Key words: territorial systems of production; local endogenous capacities; SMEs performance.

Ways to open innovation: main agents and sources in the Portuguese case

Facing increasing open innovation trends, Portuguese enterprises are considering the related processes and impacts. Thus, this work aims to identify the sectors whose enterprises most engage in open innovation (such as cooperation on this issue) and which sources/agents are most used. This is analyzed by sector and type of innovation as an interesting way of differentiation for better open innovation strategy delineation. Using the data from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS-2012), it first appraises the nature of the innovation process, either cooperative or firm-based, as the starting level of analysis. Then, it differentiates the results by sector illustrating which cooperation sources/agents are most used (scope) and relative intensity of use (scale). This is important to assess levels of openness and related factors. Results show that main innovating sectors in Portugal are of three types: research-based, knowledge-based and service-based. They reveal an increasing focus on knowledge and services, trends that have been leading to more active openness towards innovation. For instance, health and construction are increasing their openness for innovating and internationalizing processes. However, Portuguese innovation is still more firm-based (in-house) than cooperation-based, especially concerning new products' launching. This work and future analyzes around it can contribute to encourage the open innovation strategy in more sectors of the economy as an easy and effective way to cope with rapid trends and changes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aspectos neonatais e maternos da gestação na adolescência: [dissertação]

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Médicas.Introdução: Este estudo foi realizado na Maternidade Carmela Dutra, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, de agosto a dezembro de 2002. Objetivo: Avaliar a influência da gestação na adolescência sobre os resultados neonatais, considerando aspectos socioeconômicos e psicossociais. Introduction: This trial was conducted in the Carmela Dutra Maternity Hospital, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, from August to December 2002. Objective: To assess the influence of teenage pregnancy on neonatal outcome, taking into account social-economic and psychosocial aspects. Methods: The sample was comprised of neonates born alive and their respective mothers of less than age 20 and in the age group 25 to 29. Data were collected based on post-partum interviews with the mothers, utilizing the chi square statistical test and admitting statistical significance when p<0.05. Results: Three hundred adolescents (43.4%) were included as well as 391 non-adolescents (56.6%), whose ages averaged 17.4 (+1.3) years and 26.9 (+1.3) years, respectively. The prevalence of neonates born alive from teenage mothers was 19.0%. There was an statistically significant association between being a pregnant teenager and not planning pregnancy, being single, living without a spouse, living in the consanguineous home or in the spouse's home, drinking less alcoholic beverages and taking illegal drugs during pregnancy, having the head of the family earn an income of less than or equal to three minimum wages, belonging to a lower social class, having a low school-level, dropping out of school, attending less than 6 pre-natal appointments and starting pre-natal care after the first quarter of pregnancy, weighing less than 50 kilograms before conception and being less frequently submitted to a cesarean section. No statistically significant association was found between teenage pregnancy and an Apgar score lower than 7 in the first and fifth minutes of life, low birth weight, prematurity, intra-uterine growth delay and neonatal mortality. Among adolescents and non-adolescents, the prevalences of birth weight lower than 2,500 grams were 9.3% and 7.4%; of prematurity, 10.0% and 9.2%; of neonates small for gestational age, 2.7% and 3.3%; and of neonatal mortality, 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, teenage pregnancy does not interfere with neonatal outcome, but is associated with unfavorable conditions from the social-economic and psycho-social standpoints. Método: A amostra foi composta de nascidos vivos e respectivas mães com menos de 20 anos e de 25 a 29 anos. Os dados foram coletados de entrevistas com puérperas, sendo utilizado o teste estatístico qui-quadrado e admitida significância estatística, quando p<0,05. Resultados: Foram incluídas 300 adolescentes (43,4%) e 391 não adolescentes (56,6%), cujas médias de idades foram 17,4 (+1,3) anos e 26,9 (+1,3) anos, respectivamente. A prevalência de nascidos vivos de mães adolescentes foi de 19,0%. Houve associação estatisticamente significativa entre ser gestante adolescente e não planejar a gestação, ser solteira, viver sem companheiro, co-habitar com a família consangüínea ou com a do companheiro, ingerir menos bebida alcoólica e consumir mais drogas ilícitas durante a gestação, possuir chefe de família com renda inferior ou igual a três salários mínimos, pertencer à classe social baixa, possuir baixa escolaridade, abandonar a escola, comparecer a menos de 6 consultas e iniciar o pré-natal após o primeiro trimestre de gestação, pesar menos de 50 quilogramas antes da concepção e ser submetida à cesariana com menor freqüência. Não foi constatada associação estatisticamente significativa entre gestação na adolescência e índice de Apgar inferior a 7 no primeiro e quinto minuto de vida, baixo peso de nascimento, prematuridade, retardo de crescimento intrauterino e mortalidade neonatal. Entre adolescentes e não adolescentes, as prevalências de peso inferior a 2.500 gramas foram de 9,3% e 7,4%; de prematuridade, de 10,0% e 9,2%; de recém-nascidos pequenos para a idade gestacional, de 2,7% e 3,3%; e de mortalidade neonatal, de 0,7% e 0,8%, respectivamente. Conclusão: Neste estudo, a gestação na adolescência não interferiu nos resultados neonatais, mas esteve associada a condições desfavoráveis do ponto de vista socioeconômico e psicossocial

Acidose tubular renal tipo I: relato de um caso.

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Curso de Medicina, Florianópolis, 198

Driving forces for innovation: are they measurable?

This paper outlines a synthetic framework based on the concept of the learning process as a driver to redress stakeholders’ attitudes and strategic choices. The discussion is focused on the advantages that may result from institutional proximity, knowledge diffusion and coordination for the specific building up of a territorial knowledge base and the consequent achievement of sustainable regional development. This theoretical framework is applied to an empirical exercise identifying a number of variables supposed to be able to characterise firms and regional performances towards different forms of innovation. Modelling techniques are used to demonstrate that firms’ capacity to innovate is a complex attribute whose determinants change. The results permit to conclude causal links that may be useful for a better understanding of innovation and as support instruments for policy-makers which intend to search for specificities in the regional development process

How do small firms from European rural regions learn and innovate?

Contrarily to big firms, small firms interact intensively with the territory in which they located, as a signal of their embeddedness. The particular tight links they develop with their external environment reduce uncertainty risks. In general, for them, geographical and sociological proximities constitute the main sources of assets and information determining their perspectives and strategic choices. The present study uses a set of enquires, developed within the framework of a European research project, with the purpose of modelling the determinants of innovation in a bi-univocal relationship of interdependencies between small firms and their environmental contexts. We dealt mainly with lagging regions and a panel of 323 firms from the agro-food sector, located in 11 different European rural regions from six different countries. Using a set of variables able to characterise the innovative processes and through the application of k-mean clusters statistical analysis, it was possible to detect behavioural patterns towards innovation among those firms. Non-innovators, pioneer innovators and follower innovators were the identified patterns. Using cross tabs analysis between those patterns and a set of attributes dealing with the importance of human capital, the profile of each group were drawn

The effects of globalisation on the performance of labour-intensive industries from southern Europe: the role of localised capabilities

This paper focus on the examination of the competitive positioning of textiles, clothes and leather (TCL) sectors, in the actual context of integration within Europe. The first aim of the paper is to empirically confirm the relation between the strong competition from emerging market economies and the regional job loss in these sectors. Secondly, we argue that localised capabilities are important factors for the economic resilience of TCL firms in the global economy. Using clustering analysis, a set of 13 Southern European Nuts 2 regions was selected because of their strong specialization on TCL industries. For the selected regions, data on the evolution of TCL trade balance was compared with performance indicators (firm density, employment and investment per capita in TCL). The results allow to examine the relationship between the liberalisation process and the evolution of job loss and disinvestment, in regions whose economic tissues are not able to provide employment alternatives

Regional, national and international networks: the suitability of different competitive strategies for different geographic profiles

The continuous capacity of firms to learn is seen by many scholars as the critical solution in order to avoid firms from becoming locked into obsolete technological and competitive trajectories. This is a very common tendency, particularly in peripheral areas and/or labour-intensive industries. Networks are often seen as the channel to overcome the risk that firms may become rigid. By accessing other markets, assets and technologies, firms free themselves from their own limitations while following the technological trajectories of their competitors. In this paper, we approach the issue with respect to the relation between the competitive strategies of small firms and their networking profile. We report the results of the application of a common questionnaire to a sample of 165 SMEs from labour-intensive sectors belonging to the following southern European areas: North (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), Macedonia (Greece) and South Italy (Italy). Using multivariate statistical analysis, the firms were grouped according to the use of regional, national and international geographic scales for supply, distribution and sales networks. For each one of them, competitive strategies related with market, investments, technology and training were analysed. Our results allow us to observe that competitive strategies vary across the three groups, indicating that there is a relation between the capacity to improve the geographic scale of networking and the capacity to strategically react to market changing conditions. While the related literature confirms the advantages of networking for the competitiveness of firms, we conclude that not all firms have the ability to develop international or even national contacts. Firms with restricted backward and forward linkages are also the ones with lower technological, training and innovative performances. Another important and related insight regards the requirements of going global: the network scaling-up is related more with quality production, than with scale economies. The exploitation of marketing networks depends heavily on the openness towards new opportunities which, in turn, depends on the knowledge stock of firms (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) and on the empowerment of employees to pursue it (Lechner & Dowling, 2003). The resource-base of firms is both an input for and an output of networking activity, and that can be either a vicious or a virtuous cycle

Variational quantum tomography with incomplete information by means of semidefinite programs

We introduce a new method to reconstruct unknown quantum states out of incomplete and noisy information. The method is a linear convex optimization problem, therefore with a unique minimum, which can be efficiently solved with Semidefinite Programs. Numerical simulations indicate that the estimated state does not overestimate purity, and neither the expectation value of optimal entanglement witnesses. The convergence properties of the method are similar to compressed sensing approaches, in the sense that, in order to reconstruct low rank states, it needs just a fraction of the effort correspondig to an informationally complete measurement.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. In the previous version there was a mistake about lower bounds to arbitrary expectation values. It is now correcte