Directed Giving: Evidence from an Inter-Household Transfer Experiment*

We investigate the determinants of giving in a lab-in-the-field experiment with large stakes. Study participants in urban Mozambique play dictator games where their counterpart is the closest person to them outside their household. Dictators share more with counterparts when they have the option of giving in kind (in the form of goods), compared to giving that must be in cash. Qualitative post-experiment responses suggest that this effect is driven by a desire to control how recipients use gifted resources. Standard economic determinants such as the rate of return to giving and the size of the endowment also affect giving, but the effects of even large changes in these determinants are significantly smaller than the effect of the in-kind option. Our results support theories of giving where the utility of givers depends on the composition (not just the level) of gift-recipient expenditures, and givers thus seek control over transferred resources.

Safe reuse of treated urban wastewater in Praia, Cape Verde: a case study

Dissertação para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão da Água

The impact of high involvement human resources practices on resistance to change: The mediator effect of commitment to change and the influence of ethical leadership

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Provide instructions and resources for assessment and training in earth building: the Pirate project

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Donations of non-financial resources: The motivation and consequences of measuring and accounting for it

This thesis focus on the measurement and accounting of contributions received by nonprofit organizations, as they are a significant component of revenues nowadays. A survey was developed and forward to 38 different NPOs, with the goal of understanding their motivations and what advantages and disadvantages they believe would result if they start to measure and account for all kinds of contributions. They presented many advantages from this practice; however, some are not doing it due to the difficulties in valuing contributions with no market value which would require a higher workload, waste of resources and time to be taken from other important activities.

Spatial distribution of trachoma cases in the City of Bauru, State of São Paulo, Brazil, detected in 2006: defining key areas for improvement of health resources

IntroductionThe objective of this study was to analyze the spatial behavior of the occurrence of trachoma cases detected in the City of Bauru, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2006 in order to use the information collected to set priority areas for optimization of health resources.Methodsthe trachoma cases identified in 2006 were georeferenced. The data evaluated were: schools where the trachoma cases studied, data from the 2000 Census, census tract, type of housing, water supply conditions, distribution of income and levels of education of household heads. In the Google Earth® software and TerraView® were made descriptive spatial analysis and estimates of the Kernel. Each area was studied by interpolation of the density surfaces exposing events to facilitate to recognize the clusters.ResultsOf the 66 cases detected, only one (1.5%) was not a resident of the city's outskirts. A positive association was detected of trachoma cases and the percentage of heads of household with income below three minimum wages and schooling under eight years of education.ConclusionsThe recognition of the spatial distribution of trachoma cases coincided with the areas of greatest social inequality in Bauru City. The micro-areas identified are those that should be prioritized in the rationalization of health resources. There is the possibility of using the trachoma cases detected as an indicator of performance of micro priority health programs.

Leadership in Angola and Mozambique: How Portuguese leaders overcome the human resources challenge and contribute to organizational success

This Work Project presents human resources as one of the major challenges that Portuguese leaders meet in Angola and Mozambique. The main goal is to understand the role of leaders in translating this challenge into benefits for their own business and the African society. To conduct this study 13 leaders who work in Portugal and Africa were interviewed. Then, a framework was constructed based on the two ways these leaders recognize the importance of their employees for sustainable growth – financial incentives or/and personal development. The main conclusion here is that individually, incentives and personal development are not effective methods. Because of this, an employee empowerment process is proposed that encloses both, along with the leaders’ personal qualities needed to implement that “ideal” process.

Reallocation of resources between the tradable and non-tradable sector in Portugal: Assessing the degree of structural transformation in the Portuguese economy

Portugal implemented a large number of structural reforms in the recent years, which are expected to enhance the allocation of resources in the economy, namely from the non-tradable to tradable sector. We argue that the methodology to identify the tradable sector used by some international institutions is outdated and may hamper an accurate assessment of the progress achieved so far. Based on an enhanced methodology to identify the tradable sector, we are able to provide a more accurate, clearer picture of the recent structural developments of the Portuguese economy.

"A reserva ecológica nacional e a sua importância para o ordenamento do território"

This work primarily aims to investigate the ambiguity between the right to build and the need to preserve nature through one of its instruments: the National Ecological Reserve. In both national and international political effort, forced by increasing ecological awareness of the society were being created regulations for environmental problemsolving frameworks. This significant increase in provisions, that regulated the environment and spatial territory, are directly related to the objectives of the European community. In a year when the soil policy has changed, it is important to review the priorities of regional planning in the face of environmental policies. REN is a restriction of public utility that, among other things, aims to define and integrate diverse areas of our territory which by their structure are essential to the ecological stability of the environment. Going through a historical study of the various regimes that regulated REN, the present work aims to inform the understanding of the concept REN, exposing its objectives and form of delimitation of integrated areas, in order to answer questions about the nature of this institute. It were related to all regulations governing the ecological reserves and land, namely Scheme for Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity; Natura 2000, the National Agricultural Reserve, the Law of the ownership of water resources and water, and the RJIGT RJUE, checking to its compatibility with REN. Through a literature review regarding the jurisprudence of national courts applying the doctrine, analysis of legal regimes, analysis of maps depicting the REN, we carried out a qualitative assessment of the trend and legal effect of REN in protecting populations and environment. Therefore we will work with this reflect on the existing environment awareness in our society and its problems in the management of natural resources.

Chlorite Dismutase from perchlorate reducing bacteria. A potential biocatalyst to eliminate chlorinated species from polluted water resources and industrial wastes

Magnetospirillum (M.) sp. strain Lusitani, a perchlorate reducing bacteria (PRB), was previously isolated from a wastewater treatment plant and phylogenetic analysis was performed to classify the isolate. The DNA sequence of the genes responsible for perchlorate reduction and chlorite dismutation was determined and a model was designed based on the physiological roles of the proteins involved in the pcr-cld regulon. Chlorite dismutase (Cld) was purified from Magnetospirillum sp. strain Lusitani cells grown in anaerobiosis in the presence of perchlorate. The protein was purified up to electrophoretic grade using HPLC techniques as a 140 kDa homopentamer comprising five ~28 kDa monomers. Steady-state kinetic studies showed that the enzyme follows a Michaelis-Menten model with optimal pH and temperature of 6.0 and 5°C, respectively. The average values for the kinetic constants KM and Vmax were respectively 0.56 mM and 10.2 U, which correspond to a specific activity of 35470 U/mg and a turnover number of 16552 s-1. Cld from M. sp. strain Lusitani is inhibited by the product chloride, but not by dioxygen. Inhibition constants KiC= 460 mM and KiU= 480 mM indicated that sodium chloride is a weak mixed inhibitor of Cld, with a slightly stronger competitive character. The X-ray crystallography structure of M. sp. strain Lusitani Cld was solved at 3.0 Å resolution. In agreement with cofactor content biochemical analysis, the X-ray data showed that each Cld monomer harbors one heme b coordinated by a histidine residue (His188), hydrogen-bonded to a conserved glutamic acid residue (Glu238). The conserved neighboring arginine residue (Arg201) important for substrate positioning, was found in two different conformations in different monomers depending on the presence of the exogenous ligand thiocyanate. UV-Visible and CW-EPR spectroscopies were used to study the effect of redox agents, pH and exogenous ligands on the heme environment.

An analysis of associations between human resources practices, affective commitment, exhaustion and cynicism of temportary workers

This research examines the relationships between Human Resources Practices (HRP) and affective commitment, exhaustion, and cynicism of temporary workers. Furthermore, voluntariness and tenure with the client organization are assumed in the analysis as moderators. A sample of Temporary Agency workers was surveyed. It was assumed that HRP positively relates with affective commitment, while negatively with exhaustion and cynicism. Results confirmed the proposed relationships. Regarding the moderators, it has been proved that voluntariness partially weakens the relationships between HRP and temporary workers’ outcomes. However, contrary to the hypothesis, this effect cannot be affirmed also for the tenure with the client organization. Previous literature as well as implications of the findings are discussed.

Development of benchmarks for operating costs and resources consumption to be used in healthcare building sustainability assessment methods

Since the last decade of the twentieth century, the healthcare industry is paying attention to the environmental impact of their buildings and therefore new regulations, policy goals and Buildings Sustainability Assessment (HBSA) methods are being developed and implemented. At the present, healthcare is one of the most regulated industries and it is also one of the largest consumers of energy per net floor area. To assess the sustainability of healthcare buildings it is necessary to establish a set of benchmarks related with their life-cycle performance. They are both essential to rate the sustainability of a project and to support designers and other stakeholders in the process of designing and operating a sustainable building, by allowing the comparison to be made between a project and the conventional and best market practices. This research is focused on the methodology to set the benchmarks for resources consumption, waste production, operation costs and potential environmental impacts related to the operational phase of healthcare buildings. It aims at contributing to the reduction of the subjectivity found in the definition of the benchmarks used in Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) methods, and it is applied in the Portuguese context. These benchmarks will be used in the development of a Portuguese HBSA method.

Ants monopolise plant resources by shelter-construction

In Ecuadorean Amazonas, Crematogaster ants (Myrmicinae) were observed to construct shelters of debris and plant trichomes covering and hiding extrafloral nectaries of Passiflora auriculata vines. This is seen as an advanced way of excluding competing ants from a food source.

Aggregating community resources of care and assistance services for the elderly population

Changes in population age structure are a major concern and represent a priority in the agendas and policies of the developed world, which are demanding for renewed models of social and healthcare as well as assistance services to the elderly population. Studies indicate that as far as possible these types of services should desirably be provided at the user’s home, and that ICT-based solutions can have tremendous impact on the delivery of new services. This paper highlight and discusses some of the main results of a project undertaken in a Portuguese Municipality that demonstrates the potential contribution of an e-Marketplace of care and assistance services to the well-being of elderly people. Studies undertaken allowed identifying the main services that should be provided by such e-Marketplace (termed GuiMarket), the relevance that the population grant to this platform and, conversely, the fact that the Digital Divide phenomena influences the potential utilization of this project (and alike projects). The findings support that there is a strong relation between age and qualifications, and between access to ICT and the intended use of GuiMarket.