A resolução alternativa de litígios e as tecnologias de informação e comunicação: o caso particular da resolução de conflitos na Internet em Portugal e na UE

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito e Informática

Infrastructure Finance and Industrial Takeoff in England

That financial matters did not constrain industrial takeoff in the UK is generally accepted in the historical literature; in contrast, contemporary empirical analyses have found evidence that financial development can be a causal determinant of economic growth. We look to reconcile these findings by concentrating on a particular aspect of industrialising UK where inefficiencies in finance could have had bite: The finance of physical infrastructures. We document the historical record and develop the importance of spatial disaggregation and spillovers in both technological and financial development. We develop a simple model that captures the nature of infrastructure finance within a theory of endogenous growth where financial costs are endogenous. We argue that the conception of the finance-growth nexus as a largely static, aggregative phenomenon misses out a good deal of complexity and we relate that complexity to a number of implications for regulation of both financial systems and the emergence of infrastructures

Understanding the religious behaviour of Muslims in the Netherlands and the UK

The position of Muslims in Western societies is the subject of intense study and debate. However, remarkably little attention has been paid to the practice of European Muslims and how Muslim religiosity relates to conventional measures of social and economic integration. In this paper we draw on theories of secularization, assimilation, revitalization and integration to explore the correlates of attendance at religious meetings for Muslims of different backgrounds in the Netherlands and the UK. We conclude that patterns of religiosity and secularisation cannot be generalised across national contexts.

Active civic participation of immigrants in Portugal

Portugal’s historical past strongly influences the composition of the country’s immigrant population. The main third-country foreign nationals in Portugal originate traditionally from Portuguese-speaking African countries (namely Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, and S. Tomé e Príncipe) and Brazil. In 2001, a newly created immigrant status entitled “permanence” authorization uncovered a quantitative and a qualitative change in the structure of immigrant population in Portugal. First, there was a quantitative jump from 223.602 foreigners in 2001 to 364.203 regularized foreigners in 2003. Secondly, there was a substantial qualitative shift in the composition of immigrants. The majority of the new immigrants began coming from Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, and the Russian Federation. Thus, European countries outside the E.U. zone now rank second (after African countries) in their contribution of individuals to the stocks of immigrant population in Portugal. The differences between the new and traditional immigration flows are visible in the geographical distribution of immigrants and in their insertion into the labour market. While the traditional flows would congregate around the metropolitan area of Lisbon and in the Algarve, the new migratory flows tend to be more geographically dispersed and present in less urbanized areas of Portugal. In terms of insertion in the labour market, although the construction sector is still the most important industry for immigrant labour, Eastern European workers may also be found in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The institutional conditions that encourage immigrants’ civic participation are divided at three different levels: the state, the local, and the civil society levels. At the state level, the High Commissioner for Migrations and Ethnic Minorities is the main organizational structure along with a set of interrelated initiatives operating under specific regulatory frameworks, which act as mediators between state officials and the Portuguese civil society, and more specifically, immigrant communities. At the local level, some municipalities created consultative councils and municipal departments aiming at encouraging the participation and representation of interests from immigrant groups and association in local policies. In the civil society sphere, the main actors in Portugal spurring immigrants civic participation are immigrant associations, mainstream associations directed toward immigration topics, and unions. The legal conditions framing immigrants’ access to social housing, education, health, and social security in Portugal are also considered to be positive. Conditions restricting immigrants’ civic participation are mainly normative and include the Portuguese nationality law, the regulations shaping the political participation of immigrants, namely in what concerns their right to vote, and employment regulations restricting immigrants’ access to public administration positions. Part II of the report focuses on the active civic participation of third country immigrants. First, reasons for the lack of research on this issue in Portugal are explained. On the one hand, the recent immigration history and the more urgent needs regarding school and economic integration kept this issue out of the research spotlight. On the other hand, it was just in the beginning of the 1990s that immigrants took the very first steps toward collective mobilisation. Secondly, the literature review of Portuguese bibliography covers research on third country immigrants’ associative movement, research on local authorities’ policies and discussion about ethnic politics and political mobilisation of immigrants in Portugal. As political mobilisation of these groups has been made mainly through ethnic and/or migrant organisations, a brief history of immigrants' associative movement is given. Immigrant associations develop multiple roles, covering the social, the cultural, the economic and the political domains. Political claiming for the regularisation of illegal immigrants has been a permanent and important field of intervention since the mid-1990s. Research results reveal the com5 plex relations between ethnic mobilisation and the set of legal and institutional frameworks developed by local and national governmental authorities targeted to the incorporation of minority groups. Case studies on the Oeiras district and on the Amadora district are then presented. Conclusions underline that the most active immigrant groups are those from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, since these groups have constituted a higher number of ethnic associations, give priority to political claiming and present a more politicised discourse. Reflecting on the future of research on civic participation of third country immigrants in Portugal, the authors state that it would be interesting and relevant to compare the Portuguese situation with those of other European countries, with an older immigration history, and analyse how the Portuguese immigrants’ associative movement will be affected by a changing legal framework and the emergence of new opportunities within the set of structures regarding the political participation of minority groups.

Separated by a common currency? Evidence from the Euro changeover

We study the price convergence of goods and services in the euro area in 2001-2002. To measure the degree of convergence, we compare the prices of around 220 items in 32 European cities. The width of the border is the price di¤erence attributed to the fact that the two cities are in different countries. We find that the 2001 European borders are negative, which suggests that the markets were very integrated before the euro changeover. Moreover, we do not identify an integration effect attributable to the introduction of the euro. We then explore the determinants of the European borders. We find that different languages, wealth and population differences tend to split the markets. Historical inflation, though, tends to lead to price convergence.

Cape Verde - Diagnostic Trade Inttegration study Update - 2013

This Report is an update of the Cape Verde Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, titled Cape Verde’s Insertion into the Global Economy, produced and validated by the Government of Cape Verde in December 2008. Like the previous 2008 study, this Cape Verde Diagnostic Trade Integration Study Update provides a critical examination of the major institutional and production constraints that hinder Cape Verde’s ability to capitalize fully on the growth and welfare gains from its integration into the world economy. As a policy report, this study offers a set of priority policies and measures that can be implemented by both the public and private sectors to mitigate and surmount these supply side and institutional constraints. These recommendations are summarized in an Action Matrix. The Report is fruit of the generous support of the multi-donor program the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). In every crisis there is an opportunity. Four years after the validation of the country’s first Diagnostic Trade Integration Study in 2008, Cape Verde finds itself in a drastically altered external environment. Cape Verde faces a worsened external environment than four years ago, when it was also traversing years of crisis as global food and energy prices escalated. Just as the country was validating its first trade study in late 2008, and celebrating its graduation from the list of Least Developed Countries, the onset of the deepest global recession in recent memory triggered an even worse external situation as the country’s principal source of markets, investments, remittances and aid, the Eurozone, unraveled economically and politically. As the Eurozone crisis spread, it was Cape Verde’s misfortune that the crisis contaminated precisely its biggest Eurozone partners and donors, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. For such a highly dependent and exposed economy like that of Cape Verde, the deteriorating external sector has had a substantial negative impact on its macroeconomic performance. At the time of the validation workshop and graduation in 2008, no one could have foreseen or predicted the severity of the global crisis that followed. Despite traversing these years of adversity and external shocks, and suffering palpable setbacks, Cape Verde’s economy had proven surprisingly resilient, especially its principal sector, tourism. To its great credit, the country’s economic fundamentals are solid, and have been carefully and prudently managed over the years. For this reason alone, the country has thus far weathered the global and Eurozone crisis. Yet the near and medium term future remains uncertain. The country’s margin for maneuver has narrowed, its options far more limited, and hard choices lie ahead. Thus, there is no better time than now to analyze Cape Verde’s position in the global economy, and to examine the many challenges and opportunities it faces. The first diagnostic trade study outlined an ambitious agenda and set of policy strategies to enhance Cape Verde’s participation in the global economy. Written prior to the global crisis, the study did not, and could not, anticipate the scope and depth of the subsequent global and Eurozone crises. A few short months before the validation of the first DTIS Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). It has spent these four years adjusting to this status and implementing its commitments. At the same time, the country seeks greater economic integration with the European Union. Since 2008 the government has been investing heavily in the country’s economic infrastructure, focusing especially on fostering transformation in key sectors like agriculture, fisheries, tourism and creative industries. For these and many other reasons, it is both timely and urgent to review the road traveled since 2008. It is an opportune moment to reassess the country’s options, to rethink strategies, and to chart a new way forward that it is practical, implementable, and that builds on the country’s competitive advantages and current successes.

New evidence of the real interest rate parity for OECD countries using panel unit root tests with breaks

This paper tests for real interest parity (RIRP) among the nineteen major OECD countries over the period 1978:Q2-1998:Q4. The econometric methods applied consist of combining the use of several unit root or stationarity tests designed for panels valid under cross-section dependence and presence of multiple structural breaks. Our results strongly support the fulfilment of the weak version of the RIRP for the studied period once dependence and structural breaks are accounted for.

Integración económica y localización industrial. Cataluña, la fábrica de España: ¿cuándo y por qué?

En este artículo se analizan los determinantes de la localización de la actividad industrial en España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. El objetivo es estudiar la existencia de cambios en los factores explicativos de la localización, con el fin de identificar los efectos de la integración económica sobre la geografía industrial española. Para hacerlo, en primer lugar se analiza la literatura histórica existente. En segundo lugar, se describen las teorías que explican la localización de l'actividad. En tercer lugar, se realiza un análisis empírico de la localización y la concentración de la industria española al siglo XIX. A continuación, se propone un estudio econométrico de los determinantes de la localización industrial en dos cortes temporales, 1856 y 1893. Los resultados son consistentes con las teorías del comercio. Durante el decurso de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, España paso a ser una economía integrada, la movilidad del trabajo y del capital se vio favorecida y como resultado, las diferencias relativas en las dotaciones de factores perdieron importancia en la explicación de las pautas de especialización industrial. Por el contrario, la integración económica favoreció la significación relativa de las economías de escala o de la proximidad a los mercados como elementos explicativos de la localización de la industria, favoreciendo, de esta manera, la aglomeración de la actividad industrial

New evidence of the real interest rate parity for OECD countries using panel unit root tests with breaks

This paper tests for real interest parity (RIRP) among the nineteen major OECD countries over the period 1978:Q2-1998:Q4. The econometric methods applied consist of combining the use of several unit root or stationarity tests designed for panels valid under cross-section dependence and presence of multiple structural breaks. Our results strongly support the fulfilment of the weak version of the RIRP for the studied period once dependence and structural breaks are accounted for.

Integración económica y localización industrial. Cataluña, la fábrica de España: ¿cuándo y por qué?

En este artículo se analizan los determinantes de la localización de la actividad industrial en España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. El objetivo es estudiar la existencia de cambios en los factores explicativos de la localización, con el fin de identificar los efectos de la integración económica sobre la geografía industrial española. Para hacerlo, en primer lugar se analiza la literatura histórica existente. En segundo lugar, se describen las teorías que explican la localización de l'actividad. En tercer lugar, se realiza un análisis empírico de la localización y la concentración de la industria española al siglo XIX. A continuación, se propone un estudio econométrico de los determinantes de la localización industrial en dos cortes temporales, 1856 y 1893. Los resultados son consistentes con las teorías del comercio. Durante el decurso de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, España paso a ser una economía integrada, la movilidad del trabajo y del capital se vio favorecida y como resultado, las diferencias relativas en las dotaciones de factores perdieron importancia en la explicación de las pautas de especialización industrial. Por el contrario, la integración económica favoreció la significación relativa de las economías de escala o de la proximidad a los mercados como elementos explicativos de la localización de la industria, favoreciendo, de esta manera, la aglomeración de la actividad industrial

La reducción de los costes de transporte en España (1800-1936)

This paper describes the improvement that took place in the Spanish transport system between 1800 and 1936. The text points out that, despite the investment efforts that were carried out between 1840 and 1855, the process of transport cost reduction only experienced substantial progress after 1855. The largest transport cost decrease of the period under consideration took place during the three decades between 1855 and the great depression of the late nineteenth century, through the substitution of the railroad for the traditional transport means in the main routes of the country, as well as through the gradual reduction of the price of railway transport. The process went on more slowly later on, thanks to the construction of additional raillway lines (until 1895) and the enlargement of the secondary road network. The process of transport cost reduction accelerated again from the 1920s onwards, thanks to the diffusion of the automobile technology.

Integración económica y localización industrial. Cataluña, la fábrica de España: ¿cuándo y por qué?

En este artículo se analizan los determinantes de la localización de la actividad industrial en España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. El objetivo es estudiar la existencia de cambios en los factores explicativos de la localización, con el fin de identificar los efectos de la integración económica sobre la geografía industrial española. Para hacerlo, en primer lugar se analiza la literatura histórica existente. En segundo lugar, se describen las teorías que explican la localización de l'actividad. En tercer lugar, se realiza un análisis empírico de la localización y la concentración de la industria española al siglo XIX. A continuación, se propone un estudio econométrico de los determinantes de la localización industrial en dos cortes temporales, 1856 y 1893. Los resultados son consistentes con las teorías del comercio. Durante el decurso de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, España paso a ser una economía integrada, la movilidad del trabajo y del capital se vio favorecida y como resultado, las diferencias relativas en las dotaciones de factores perdieron importancia en la explicación de las pautas de especialización industrial. Por el contrario, la integración económica favoreció la significación relativa de las economías de escala o de la proximidad a los mercados como elementos explicativos de la localización de la industria, favoreciendo, de esta manera, la aglomeración de la actividad industrial

Integración económica y localización industrial. Cataluña, la fábrica de España: ¿cuándo y por qué?

En este artículo se analizan los determinantes de la localización de la actividad industrial en España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. El objetivo es estudiar la existencia de cambios en los factores explicativos de la localización, con el fin de identificar los efectos de la integración económica sobre la geografía industrial española. Para hacerlo, en primer lugar se analiza la literatura histórica existente. En segundo lugar, se describen las teorías que explican la localización de l'actividad. En tercer lugar, se realiza un análisis empírico de la localización y la concentración de la industria española al siglo XIX. A continuación, se propone un estudio econométrico de los determinantes de la localización industrial en dos cortes temporales, 1856 y 1893. Los resultados son consistentes con las teorías del comercio. Durante el decurso de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, España paso a ser una economía integrada, la movilidad del trabajo y del capital se vio favorecida y como resultado, las diferencias relativas en las dotaciones de factores perdieron importancia en la explicación de las pautas de especialización industrial. Por el contrario, la integración económica favoreció la significación relativa de las economías de escala o de la proximidad a los mercados como elementos explicativos de la localización de la industria, favoreciendo, de esta manera, la aglomeración de la actividad industrial

La diversificación del riesgo en los mercados de deuda pública de la zona euro

El objetivo de este trabajo es el análisis del impacto de la unión monetaria en las oportunidades de diversificación del riesgo de las carteras de deuda pública en la zona euro. Para ello, examinamos la existencia de tendencias comunes en la evolución de la rentabilidad a 10 años de los países de la UE-15 durante el período 1994-2008. A pesar de que encontramos evidencia a favor de la conintegración múltiple, los resultados apoyan la existencia de más de una única tendencia entre las rentabilidades a largo plazo de los países de la UE-15. Además, cuando centramos nuestro anàlisis en los países de la zona euro, aunque la interdependencia aumenta, seguimos rechazando la existencia de una única tendencia común. Estos resultados tienen importantes implicaciones para los inversores en términos de sus posibilidades de diversificar el riesgo en un contexto de una moneda única.