From Cash to Electronic Payments: Microeconomic, Macroeconomic, and Policy Aspects of Retail Payment Systems

This dissertation explores three aspects of the economics and policy issues surrounding retail payments (low-value frequent payments): the microeconomic aspect, by measuring costs associated with retail payment instruments; the macroeconomic aspect, by quantifying the impact of the use of electronic rather than paper-based payment instruments on consumption and GDP; and the policy aspect, by identifying barriers that keep countries stuck with outdated payment systems, and recommending policy interventions to move forward with payments modernization. Payment system modernization has become a prominent part of the financial sector reform agenda in many advanced and developing countries. Greater use of electronic payments rather than cash and other paper-based instruments would have important economic and social benefits, including lower costs and thereby increased economic efficiency and higher incomes, while broadening access to the financial system, notably for people with moderate and low incomes. The dissertation starts with a general introduction on retail payments. Chapter 1 develops a theoretical model for measuring payments costs, and applies the model to Guyana—an emerging market in the midst of the transition from paper to electronic payments. Using primary survey data from Guyanese consumers, the results of the analysis indicate that annual costs related to the use of cash by consumers reach 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP. Switching to electronic payment instruments would provide savings amounting to 1 percent of GDP per year. Chapter 2 broadens the analysis to calculate the macroeconomic impacts of a move to electronic payments. Using a unique panel dataset of 76 countries across the 17-year span from 1998 to 2014 and a pooled OLS country fixed effects model, Chapter 2 finds that on average, use of debit and credit cards contribute USD 16.2 billion to annual global consumption, and USD 160 billion to overall annual global GDP. Chapter 3 provides an in-depth assessment of the Albanian payment cards and remittances market and recommends a set of incentives and regulations (both carrots and sticks) that would allow the country to modernize its payment system. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the lessons of the dissertation’s research and brings forward issues to be explored by future research in the retail payments area.

Ethical addresses and Ethical record

Vols. 3-7 have neither title-page nor index.

Studies on bovine oocytes and ovarian tissues cryopreservation : fundamental and applied aspects

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências Agrárias (Reprodução Animal), 26 de Junho de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Cognitive and structural aspects of addiction: Relation between iris patterns, time perception, eyeblink rate, impulsivity and cigarette addiction

Objectif : Le but de ce travail est d'étudier les corrélations existantes entre les patterns de l'iris, la perception du temps et la fréquence de clignement des paupières (eye blink rate) et ceci en relation avec l'addiction à la cigarette. Méthodologie: Revue de la littérature existante. Expériences sur une cohorte d'au moins trente sujets fumeurs/non-fumeurs. Analyses statistiques. Résultats: Nos résultats confirment qu'il existe des relations entre l'impulsivité, les patterns d'iris, l'eye blink rate spontané et la perception du temps. Nous observons également que l'addiction à la cigarette et son niveau de dépendance ont une influence sur ces différentes mesures. En effet, les sujets fumeurs tendent à avoir une personnalité plus impulsive par rapport aux sujets contrôles. On remarque également une nette diminution de l'eye blink rate dans le groupe des fumeurs et une tendance à la sur-estimation du temps qui passe. Conclusion : Ce travail nous permet de mieux comprendre les différentes corrélations qui existent entre les différentes variables que nous avons mesurées (patterns d'iris, score d'impulsivité et eye blink rate) ainsi que leur relation à l'addiction à la cigarette. Dès lors qu'il est avéré que les fumeurs peuvent avoir une perception du temps altérée par rapport au groupe contrôle, il serait intéressant d'en étudier l'évolution sur le long terme (aggravation avec la durée du tabagisme actif) ainsi que les conséquences qui en découlent écologiquement au moyen d'études longitudinales et de terrain.

Between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean : the late bronze age around the Tagus estuary (Portugal) : economic, social and cultural aspects

This paper deals with the importance, quantity and diversity of Late Bronze Age sites known around the Tagus estuary. The material culture points out to the existence of cultural stimuli from very different origins: from the Iberian Peninsula inner, the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean basin, related to the social organization and the economy of the populations that inhabited this region between the XIII century BC and the IX century BC, according to the available radiocarbon data. These populations interacted with the first Phoenicians that arrived to the region at the end of this period, after episodic relations of trading with their antecedents, from Central Mediterranean region.

Commentary on: Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research: On functional and compulsive aspects of reinforcement pathologies

Background: This paper is a commentary to a debate article entitled: "Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research", by Billieux et al. (2015). Methods and aim: This brief response focused on the necessity to better characterize psychological and related neurocognitive determinants of persistent deleterious actions associated or not with substance utilization. Results: A majority of addicted people could be driven by psychological functional reasons to keep using drugs, gambling or buying despite the growing number of related negative consequences. In addition, a non-negligible proportion of them would need assistance to restore profound disturbances in basic learning processes involved in compulsive actions. Conclusions: The distinction between psychological functionality and compulsive aspects of addictive behaviors should represent a big step towards more efficient treatments.

Impact of hypomineralized teeth and sociobehavioral aspects on caries development: a prospective cohort study

Aim: This prospective cohort study was to evaluate the independent and mutual effects of socioeconomic, oral health behaviors and individual clinical factors, including enamel hypomineralization, as possible risk factors for increase in caries experience in second primary molar (SPM) over a period of 2-years. Methods: Children (n=216) aged 4-6 years were examined for hypomineralized second primary molar (HSPM) and dental caries in school settings and were recalled every 6 months. The caregivers filled out a semi-structured questionnaire about their socio-demographic and oral health-related behaviors. Data analysis was performed using a hierarchical model with three levels. Multiple analyses were performed at each level and variables with p<0.20 were tested by stepwise multiple Generalized Estimating Equation. Results: At final examination, 33.3% of the children had developed new caries lesions in SPM. The model showed that the number of years of mother’s schooling and the caregiver´s perception about their children’s caries experience played a protective role in the incidence of dental caries. Children who had white spot lesions were more likely to develop new carious lesions in SPM. Children with HSPM showed no higher incidence of caries in their SPM than those without HSPM. Conclusions: Clinical, socioeconomic and behavioral factors impacted on caries development in primary second molars. However, further studies are required to better understand the role of HSPM in caries development in other age groups.

Ontogeny of Solea senegalensis: digestive system and nutritional aspects

Tese de dout., Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e Ambiente, Univ. do Algarve, 2003

Does gender moderate the subjective measurement and structural paths in behavioural and cognitive aspects of gambling disorder in treatment-seeking adults?

Introduction
Gender differences have been observed in the pathogenesis of gambling disorder and gambling related urge and cognitions are predictive of relapse to problem gambling. A better understanding of these mechanisms concurrently may help in the development of more directed therapies.
Methods
We evaluated gender effects on behavioural and cognitive paths to gambling disorder from self-report data. Participants (N = 454) were treatment-seeking problem gamblers on first presentation to a gambling therapy service between January 2012 and December 2014. We firstly investigated if aspects of gambling related urge, cognitions (interpretive bias and gambling expectancies) and gambling severity were more central to men than women. Subsequently, a full structural equation model tested if gender moderated behavioural and cognitive paths to gambling severity.
Results
Men (n = 280, mean age = 37.4 years, SD = 11.4) were significantly younger than women (n = 174, mean age = 48.7 years, SD = 12.9) (p < 0.001). There was no gender difference in conceptualising latent constructs of problem gambling severity, gambling related urge, interpretive bias and gambling expectancies. The paths for urge to gambling severity and interpretive bias to gambling severity were stronger for men than women and statistically significant (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively) whilst insignificant for women (p = 0.164 and p = 0.149, respectively). Structural paths for gambling expectancies to gambling severity were insignificant for both men and women.
Conclusion
This study detected an important signal in terms of theoretical mechanisms to explaining gambling disorder and gender differences. It has implications for treatment development including relapse prevention.

Good practice guidelines for curriculum, supervision and assessment of final year engineering projects and AQF8 learning outcomes

Undergraduate engineering programs require final year students to complete capstone final year projects and demonstrate that they can integrate knowledge, skills and professional graduate attributes developed during the program at Australian Qualification Framework, level 8 (AQF8) outcomes. Literature shows that currently there is no guarantee of consistency for curriculum, supervision and assessment practices of FYEPs. Practices differ greatly between universities and littlework has been initiated that seeks to identify good practice, highlighting the need for the development of guidelines for curriculum, supervision and assessment of FYEPs. This workshop is designed to share and disseminate the good practice guidelines that have been developed on curriculum, supervision and assessment of Final Year Engineering Projects as a part of phase 2 of the project ‘Assessing Final Year Engineering Projects (FYEPs): Ensuring Learning and Teaching Standards and AQF8 Outcomes’ funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) with people working in the area of FYEPs. The guidelines typically apply to four year undergraduate engineering degrees with embedded Honours and support achievement of AQF8learning outcomes. The project team has 7 partner Universities – Central Queensland University (the lead), University of Technology Sydney, University of Adelaide, Curtin University, Deakin University, University of Tasmania and RMIT University.Participants will be invited to reflect on and evaluate guidelines and findings derived from FYEP coordinators, supervisors and the wider literature and to consider the ways in which these findings might lead to improvements in their practice.

Characterising the Australian engineering workforce and engineering graduate occupational outcomes using national census data

The purpose of undergraduate engineering education is to develop graduates who are capable of commencing professional engineering practice. Professional education should equip graduates with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required for their initial professional practice. It should also enable the capacity to continue the professional development required to refresh knowledge and skills as the graduates mature and the nature of professional engineering work develops. However, it is true that many graduates from professional engineering programs, either immediately or at some later time, pursue a career outside of professional engineering. The reasons for this are widely speculated upon, and are no doubt complex. In this regard, the professional engineering workforce, the undergraduate engineering education system, the links between them, and the occupational outcomes for engineering graduates in Australia are similar to many other developed nations. Using the latest Australian national census data we present a detailed analysis of the makeup of the professional engineering workforce and the occupational outcomes for graduates of undergraduate engineering programs in Australia. The data show that the Australian professional engineering workforce is comprised of people with a wide range of educational qualifications, and, even immediately post-graduation, many Australian engineering graduates pursue non-engineering occupations. This analysis presents important findings for those designing undergraduate engineering curricula that seek to equip students for the best employment outcomes, given the nature of the professional engineering work environment, and the short- and long-term occupations that engineering graduates actually pursue in Australia.

Relationality and ethical know-how in Indigenous research

The central aims of principles and protocols for ethics and ethical conduct of Indigenous research such as those found in AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies (2012) and thoseon pre-­‐ethics protocols recently developed by emerging researchers in this field (Martin, Barrett , Koolmatrie et al , 2015) has been to address the problem of non-­‐Indigenous researchers remaining blind to their own imitations, overlooking the partial and situated perspectives and assumptions that underpin their approaches to research and hence creating asymmetrical relations between researcher and participant -­‐ usually to the detriment of the latter. However, we may ask whether these principals, in themselves, are enough to achieve this aim if the very ontological and epistemological foundations of western research in Indigenous contexts remain the same.

Financial Characteristics of Family Businesses and Financial Aspects of Succession

Family businesses are special in many respects. By examining their financial characteristics one can come to unique conclusions/results. This paper explores the general characteristics of the financial behaviour of family businesses, presents the main findings of the INSIST project’s company case studies concerning financing issues and strategies, and intends to identify the financial characteristics of company succession. The whole existence of family businesses is characterized by a duality of the family and business dimensions and this remains the case in their financial affairs. The financial decisions in family businesses (especially SMEs) are affected by aspects involving a duality of goals rather than exclusively profitability, the simultaneous presence of family and business financial needs, and the preferential handling of family needs at the expense of business needs (although it has to be said that there is evidence of family investments being postponed for the sake of business, too. Family businesses, beyond their actual effectiveness, are guided by individual goals like securing living standards, ensuring workplaces for family members, stability of operation, preservation of the company’s good reputation, and keeping the company’s size at a level that the immediate family can control and manage. The INSIST project’s company case studies revealed some interesting traits of family business finances like the importance of financial support from the founder’s family during the establishment of the company, the use of bootstrapping techniques, the financial characteristics of succession, and the role of family members in financial management.

Participation of women in engineering: challenges and productive interventions

Building science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in students at all school levels is essential to building the next generation of engineering workers and engineering skills. Despite more than two decades of initiatives, the under-representation of women in engineering has been a longstanding concern in Australia. This is related to concerns about levels of participation in engineering overall, and to current concerns about attitudes to and participation in STEM subjects and career pathways generally, and for women in the natural and physical sciences and higher level mathematics at school, university and the workplace. This review analyses factors affecting the participation of women in engineering, covering the full extent of the STEM pipeline across the schooling years but focusing particularly on girls’ exposure to and engagement with engineering across those years.