Beauty and personal care in mass market: A strategic analysis of perfumery and cosmetics at Sonae MC

Directed internship

How does gender affect visiting a world heritage site?: the case study of Guimarães

To date few studies have been undertaken in Portugal dealing with the attitudes, motivations, and profile of tourists who visit World Heritage Sites. Also, few studies have dealt with destination image (e.g., Agapito, Mendes & Valle, 2010; Lopes, 2011). As far as it is known, none have approached the issue of gender differences in the choice of a Portuguese heritage destination. Since cultural tourism destinations need to differentiate themselves from each other, appropriate market segmentation must be based on a deep understanding of the customers’ motivations and preferences. Keeping in mind results from empirical literature (e.g., Silberberg, 1995; Beerli & Martin, 2004; Richards, 2004; Pérez, 2009; Sheng, Shen, & Chen, 2008), gender seems to be a possible approach to market segmentation, whether for Guimarães or for other cultural tourism destinations around the world. Located in the north-western region of Portugal, Guimarães is a city of strong symbolic and cultural significance, and the nomination of its historical centre as a World Heritage Site in 2001 enhanced its tourism potential. This study analyses the possible relation between gender and attitudes and motivations towards a World Heritage Site, such as Guimarães. Additionally, the empirical approach used in the study tries to capture differences in the perceived attributes of the city. Commonalities and distinctions within and between groups of tourists, by focusing on the specific characteristic of gender, were analysed. The study addressed two main questions: first, whether males and females have similar or different preferences in choosing the city as their destination; and, second, whether there are gender differences in the perception of the attributes of Guimarães. A better understanding of the gendered nature of the destination is a valuable cue for shaping products and services according to visitors’ preferences.

Dispersão de preços e concorrência no mercado de transporte aéreo intraeuropeu : uma análise empírica

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências Económicas e Empresariais.

How does gender affect visiting a world heritage site?

To date few studies have been undertaken in Portugal dealing with the attitudes, motivations, and profile of tourists who visit World Heritage Sites. Also, few studies have dealt with destination image (e.g., Agapito, Mendes & Valle, 2010; Lopes, 2011). As far as it is known, none have approached the issue of gender differences in the choice of a Portuguese heritage destination. Since cultural tourism destinations need to differentiate themselves from each other, appropriate market segmentation must be based on a deep understanding of the customers’ motivations and preferences. Keeping in mind results from empirical literature (e.g., Silberberg, 1995; Beerli & Martin, 2004; Richards, 2004; Pérez, 2009; Sheng, Shen, & Chen, 2008), gender seems to be a possible approach to market segmentation, whether for Guimarães or for other cultural tourism destinations around the world. Located in the north-western region of Portugal, Guimarães is a city of strong symbolic and cultural significance, and the nomination of its historical centre as a World Heritage Site in 2001 enhanced its tourism potential. This study analyses the possible relation between gender and attitudes and motivations towards a World Heritage Site, such as Guimarães. Additionally, the empirical approach used in the study tries to capture differences in the perceived attributes of the city. Commonalities and distinctions within and between groups of tourists, by focusing on the specific characteristic of gender, were analysed. The study addressed two main questions: first, whether males and females have similar or different preferences in choosing the city as their destination; and, second, whether there are gender differences in the perception of the attributes of Guimarães. A better understanding of the gendered nature of the destination is a valuable cue for shaping products and services according to visitors’ preferences.

Which “place and non-place” do women occupy in social economy organisations?

Scientific literature has strengthened the perpetuation of inequality factors in the labour market based on gender, despite the on-going endeavour of various political bodies and legal norms against the vertical and horizontal segregation of women. National and European statistical data shows the relevance and timeless features of theories of market segmentation associated with the labour market dating back to the 70’s of the 20th century. Hence, the European Community considers as a priority in the Europe 2020 strategy, the definition of “policies to promote gender equality […] to increase labour force participation thus adding to growth and social cohesion”. If we consider that on the one hand, social economy is fairly recognised to be equated with market actors and the State for its economic and social role in tackling the current crisis, and on the other hand, that the ideals of the sector, systematised in the “Framework Law of Social Economy” (Law no. 30/2013 8th of May), particularly in article 5 proposing “the respect for the values […] of equality and non-discrimination […], justice and equity […]”, we aim to reflect on indicators that uncover a vertical and horizontal segregation in the labour market. Departing from a mixed methodological approach (extensive and intensive), subject to the topic of "Social Entrepreneurship in Portugal" in social economy organisations, we detect very high rates of employment feminisation, with a ratio of 1 man (23%) for every 3 women (77%). Women are mainly earmarked for technical and operational activities, arising from the privileged intervention areas, namely education, training, health, elderly, families, poverty, ultimately being underrepresented in statutory boards and, as such, far removed from deliberations and strategic resolutions. This is particularly visible in the existing hierarchy of functions and management practices of the responsibility of male members. Thus, it seems easily verified that the sector is travelling away from the ideals of justice and social equity, which can crystallise the "non-place" of women in the definition of a strategic direction of social economy and in the most invisible/private “place” of the organisational setting.

Individual and aggregate money demands

I construct a model in which money and bond holdings are consistent with individual decisions and aggregate variables such as production and interest rates. The agents are infinitely-lived, have constant-elasticity preferences, and receive a fraction of their income in money. Each agent solves a Baumol-Tobin money management problem. Markets are segmented because financial frictions make agents trade bonds for money at different times. Trading frequency, consumption, government decisions and prices are mutually consistent. An increase in inflation, for example, implies higher trading frequency, more bonds sold to account for seigniorage, and lower real balances.

Rebalancing frequency and the welfare cost of inflation

Cash-in-advance models usually require agents to reallocate money and bonds in fixed periods, every month or quarter, for example. I show that fixed periods underestimate the welfare cost of inflation. I use a model in which agents choose how often they exchange bonds for money. In the benchmark specification, the welfare cost of ten percent instead of zero inflation increases from 0.1 percent of income with fixed periods to one percent with optimal periods. The results are robust to different preferences, to different compositions of income in bonds or money, and to the introduction of capital and labor.

Seat in China

Currently, China has the biggest automobile industry in the world. China’s economic situation helped the automobile market, as the internal demand of passenger cars increased substantially in the last years. Chinese automobile industry’s astonishing expansion over the past years has attracted many foreign automobile groups. SEAT decided to enter the Chinese market, following its expansion strategy to enter new markets. The purpose of this study is to analyse and understand the strategic entry of SEAT in the Chinese market, hence the choice of an explanatory case study (Yin, 2003). This study extends this analysis by examining the chines automobile market, more specifically the demand, the market segmentation and the intensity of competition, reviewing the SEAT company history, their competitive positioning and resources. I conclude that, although the Chinese market has growing potential, SEAT has failed to achieve its initial objective. The company has not been able to create a brand awareness in the Chinese market, unlike other foreign brands that have managed to accomplish that. This occurred, mostly, because of the high prices in comparison to its competitors due to additional import cost, such as import duties, transportation and distribution.

Three essays on bankruptcy risk

Abstract Market prices of corporate bond spreads and of credit default swap (CDS) rates do not match each other. In this paper, we argue that the liquidity premium, the cheapest-to-deliver (CTD) option and actual market segmentation explain the pricing differences. Using the European transaction data from Reuters and Bloomberg, we estimate the liquidity premium that is time- varying and firm-specific. We show that when time-dependent liquidity premiums are considered, corporate bond spreads and CDS rates behave in a much closer way than previous studies have shown. We find that high equity volatility drives pricing differences that can be explained by the CTD option.

Sobreeducación y Sobrecualificación en los Universitarios Catalanes. Una perspectiva de género

Partiendo de una muestra compuesta por más de 19.000 titulados universitarios encuestados en 2008 y 2011, 3 años y medio después de haber finalizado sus estudios, obtenemos que la incidencia de la sobreeducación femenina está por debajo de la masculina. Con la sobrecualificación los resultados son similares. Las estimaciones de las ecuaciones salariales indican que el desajuste educativo y competencial generan una importante reducción de los ingresos para ambos sexos. La penalización a la sobreeducación es mayor para las tituladas. En cambio, se observa que la pérdida de ingresos causada por la sobrecualificación en las competencias de gestión es mayor para los hombres. El efecto de la sobrecualificación en sus niveles más elevados llega a equilibrar el impacto más favorable de la sobreeducación masculina. Los resultados obtenidos no se pueden explicar a través de la segmentación del mercado laboral de los graduados, ni tampoco a partir de la preferencia femenina por condiciones laborales a las cuales otorgan atributos positivos. En cambio, no es posible rechazar la existencia de discriminación hacia las egresadas. Tampoco es posible descartar que las asimetrías en el impacto de los desajustes estén causadas por una concepción distinta del fenómeno de la sobreeducación por parte de hombres y mujeres.

Patentes, regulación de precios e innovación en la industria farmacéutica

The trade-off between property rights/price regulation and innovation depends on countrycharacteristics and drug industry specificities. Access to drugs and innovation can bereconciled by seven ways that, among others, include: public health strengthening in thecountries with the largest access problems (those among the poor with the weakestinstitutions); public and private aid to make attractive R&D on neglected diseases; pricediscrimination with market segmentation; to require patent owners to choose eitherprotection in the rich countries or protection in the poor countries (but not both).Regarding price regulation, after a review of theoretical arguments and empirical evidence,seven strategies to reconcile health and industrial considerations are outlined, including:mitigation of the medical profession dependence on the pharmaceutical industry; considerationof a drug as an input of a production process; split drug authorization from public fundingdecisions; establish an efficiency minimum for all health production inputs; and stop theEuropean R&D hemorrhagia.

Pääomarakenteisiin vaikuttavat tekijät suomalaisissa pörssiyrityksissä

Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää lineaarisen regressioanalyysin avulla paneelidataa käyttäen suomalaisten pörssiyritysten pääomarakenteisiin vaikuttavat tekijät vuosina 1999-2004. Näiden tekijöiden avulla päätellään, mitä pääomarakenneteoriaa/-teorioita nämä yritykset noudattavat. Pääomarakenneteoriat voidaan jakaa kahteen luokkaan sen mukaan, pyritäänkö niissä optimaaliseen pääomarakenteeseen vai ei. Tradeoff- ja siihen liittyvässä agenttiteoriassa pyritään optimaaliseen pääomarakenteeseen. Tradeoff-teoriassa pääomarakenne valitaan punnitsemalla vieraan pääoman hyötyjä ja haittoja. Agenttiteoria on muuten samanlainen kuin tradeoff-teoria, mutta siinä otetaan lisäksi huomioon velan agenttikustannukset. Pecking order - ja ajoitusteoriassa ei pyritä optimaaliseen pääoma-rakenteeseen. Pecking order -teoriassa rahoitus valitaan hierarkian mukaan (tulorahoitus, vieras pääoma, välirahoitus, oma pääoma). Ajoitusteoriassa valitaan se rahoitusmuoto, jota on kannattavinta hankkia vallitsevassa markkinatilanteessa. Empiiristen tulosten mukaan velkaantumisaste riippuu positiivisesti riskistä, vakuudesta ja aineettomasta omaisuudesta. Velkaantumisaste riippuu negatiivisesti likviditeetistä, osaketuotoista ja kannattavuudesta. Osingoilla ei ole vaikutusta velkaantumisasteeseen. Toimialoista teollisuustuotteiden ja -palveluiden sekä perusteollisuuden aloilla on korkeammat velkaantumisasteet kuin muilla toimialoilla. Tulokset tukevat pääosin pecking order -teoriaa ja jonkin verran ajoitusteoriaa. Muut teoriat saavat vain vähäistä tukea.

Low-ARPU mobile offering in the selected markets of Russia and Eurasia

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on analysoida alhaisen tuloluokan segmentille kohdennettavaa mobiilituotetarjoomaa lähtien kohdesegmenttien määrittelystä aina suositeltavien tuoteominaisuuksien rajaamiseen. Taustatutkimuksen avulla selvitetään mobiilimarkkinoiden kehitykseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä asiakaspotentiaalin ja tulevaisuudennäkymien arvioimiseksi. Haastattelututkimuksen avulla on selvitetty kohdesegmentin mobiilipalvelujen tarvetta ja kyseisten markkinoiden tarjoamia mahdollisuuksia, jotta tähän tarpeeseen voidaan kannattavasti vastata. Mobiilipalveluiden saattamiseksi myös alhaisten tuloluokkien ulottuville, on loppuasiakkaalle mobiililiittymän hankkimisesta aiheutuva kokonaiskustannus saatava laskettua huomattavasti nykyistä alhaisemmalle tasolle. Tämä edellyttää, että operaattorin on voitava karsia omia kustannuksiaan jokaisella osa-alueella, ja kehitettävä uusia liiketoimintamalleja kannattavuuden säilyttämiseksi. Pohjimmiltaan tämä tarkoittaa sujuvaa yhteistyötä verkkojen ja mobiilipuhelinten valmistajien kanssa, huolellista markkinoiden segmentointia sekä tuotetarjooman kohdentamista.

Critical success factors of sales strategy in small and medium- sized ICT-companies

Tyon tavoitteena on selvittaa. mitka myyntistrategian ja siihen liittyvien muiden strategioiden kriittiset osat pienten ja keskisuurten ICT- yritysten toiminnassa. Tutkimusmenetelmana kaytettiin case- tutkimusta, jossa vertailtiin neljan pienen ja keskisuuren ohjelmisto talon toimintaa. Tutkimuksessa tunnistettiin nelja kriittista osa-aluetta, joiden hoitamiseen yritysten erityisesti tulisi kiinnittaa huomiota. Nama olivat: segmentointi ja kohdemarkkinoiden valinta, myyntikanavien valinta, myyntihenkiloston organisointi ja asiakassuuntautuneisuus, ja markkinointi tietojarjestelma. Tutkimus osoitti, etta yrityksen kasvaessa ja omistuksen eriytyessa toimivasta johdosta yrityksen strategia suunnittelusta tulee jarjestelmallisempaa.

HouSI: Heuristic for delimitation of housing submarkets and price homogeneous areas

This paper seeks to address the problem of the empirical identification of housing market segmentation,once we assume that submarkets exist. The typical difficulty in identifying housing submarkets when dealing with many locations is the vast number of potential solutions and, in such cases, the use of the Chow test for hedonic functions is not a practical solution. Here, we solve this problem by undertaking an identification process with a heuristic for spatially constrained clustering, the"Housing Submarket Identifier" (HouSI). The solution is applied to the housing market in the city of Barcelona (Spain), where we estimate a hedonic model for fifty thousand dwellings aggregated into ten groups. In order to determine the utility of the procedure we seek to verify whether the final solution provided by the heuristic is comparable with the division of the city into ten administrative districts.