The EMU sovereign-debt crisis: Fundamentals, expectations and contagion

We offer a detailed empirical investigation of the European sovereign debt crisis based on the theoretical model by Arghyrou and Tsoukalas (2010). We find evidence of a marked shift in market pricing behaviour from a ‘convergence-trade’ model before August 2007 to one driven by macro-fundamentals and international risk thereafter. The majority of EMU countries have experienced contagion from Greece. There is no evidence of significant speculation effects originating from CDS markets. Finally, the escalation of the Greek debt crisis since November 2009 is confirmed as the result of an unfavourable shift in countryspecific market expectations. Our findings highlight the necessity of structural, competitiveness-inducing reforms in periphery EMU countries and institutional reforms at the EMU level enhancing intra-EMU economic monitoring and policy co-ordination.

Out of sight, out of mind? Educational outcomes of children with parents working abroad.

Impact of parental emigration on educational outcomes of children is theoretically ambiguous. Using novel data I collected on migration experience and its timing, family background and school performance of lower secondary pupils in Poland, I analyse the question empirically. Migration is mostly temporary in nature, with one parent engaging in employment abroad. As many as 63% of migrant parents have vocational qualifications, 29% graduated from high school, 4% have no qualifications and the remaining 4% graduated from university. Almost 18% of children are affected by parental migration. Perhaps surprisingly, estimates suggest that parental employment abroad has a positive immediate impact on a pupil’s grade. Parental education appears pivotal; children of high school graduates benefit most. Longer term effects appear more negative, however, suggesting that a prolonged migration significantly lowers a child’s grade. Interestingly, siblings’ foreign experiences exert a large, positive impact on pupils’ grades.

INVESTIMENTOS HOTELEIROS EM CABO VERDE: O CASO DO RIU HOTELS & RESORTS

O presente trabalho tem como objectivo, o estudo de caso sobre investimento hoteleiro em Cabo Verde, no qual avaliaremos os investimentos com base no método Discount Cash Flow (DCF), bem como a metodologia de opções reais. O estudo centra-se nos investimentos realizados pelo grupo RIU Hotels and Resorts, grande grupo hoteleiro com presença internacional, que tem investido continuadamente com grande sucesso em Cabo Verde. Assim, sendo, para além de uma descrição e enquadramento do sector hoteleiro na Ilha de Sal, este estudo foca-se igualmente na análise dos vários projectos concretizados pelo grupo RIU. Este trabalho está estruturado em cinco capítulos para além de incluir a presente introdução e a conclusão. Os dois métodos de avaliação apresentados neste trabalho são ambos fundamentais para avaliação de investimentos, mas apesar de o método mais tradicional, o DCF ser bem aceite, a abordagem de opções reais é igualmente uma mais-valia na análise de projectos continuados, complexos e bem identificados num determinado sector – neste caso o sector hoteleiro. Na avaliação de sector hoteleiro, o método de DCF isoladamente pode não ser o mais apropriado ao estar algo limitado no tratamento da flexibilidade para modificar as decisões ao longo do tempo. Em investimentos estratégicos, cujo valor depende crucialmente da evolução de variáveis-chave, a metodologia de opções reais permite mais facilmente analisar em que medida a flexibilidade de um projecto pode trazer valor a um cenário-base. Palavras-

Standards Culturais: Brasil X Portugal

A Cultura pode ser definida de várias maneiras e cada autor tem uma visão própria do termo mas, genericamente, cultura pode ser entendida como o conjunto de características humanas que não são inatas e que se criam, preservam ou aprimoram com o convívio na sociedade, com a comunicação e cooperação entre indivíduos. Os membros de uma sociedade não estão conscientes dos seus valores culturais e somente percebem estes valores quando entram em “choque” com uma cultura diferente. Estas diferenças culturais podem criar confusões e mal-entendidos. As culturas Portuguesa e a Brasileira parecem ser bastante semelhantes: a mesma língua, as mesmas crenças, religião predominantemente católica e alimentos similares. Porém, apesar das semelhanças, e após entrevistas de carácter narrativo, observou-se nestas duas culturas características próprias e que muitas vezes foram necessárias adaptações para uma melhor integração na sociedade. Esta tese de mestrado é uma análise das diferenças culturais entre Portugal e Brasil e tem por objectivo encontrar standards culturais de ambos os países podendo ser um instrumento de ajuda para aqueles que vêm do Brasil para Portugal, e vice-versa, para trabalharem ou abrirem uma empresa. Os standards culturais encontrados, após análise comparativa, estão relacionados com a maneira de ver a vida, de ultrapassar os problemas e pressões do dia a dia, com colectivismo, hierarquia, simpatia, preocupação com o cliente, ansiedade face à incerteza e profissionalismo. Este trabalho termina com a identificação dos standards culturais e com dicas para aqueles que saem do seu país e recomeçam a sua vida noutro com cultura diferente

Modelos estadísticos y evaluación: tres estudios en educación

The educational system in Spain is undergoing a reorganization. At present, high-school graduates who want to enroll at a public university must take a set of examinations Pruebas de Aptitud para el Acceso a la Universidad (PAAU). A "new formula" (components, weights, type of exam,...) for university admission is been discussed. The present paper summarizes part of the research done by the author in her PhD. The context for this thesis is the evaluation of large-scale and complex systems of assessment. The main objectives were: to achieve a deep knowledge of the entire university admissions process in Spain, to discover the main sources of uncertainty and topromote empirical research in a continual improvement of the entire process. Focusing in the suitable statistical models and strategies which allow to high-light the imperfections of the system and reduce them, the paper develops, among other approaches, some applications of multilevel modeling.

Monitoring the university admissions process in Spain

The examinations taken by high-school graduates in Spain and the role ofthe examination in the university admissions process are described. Thefollowing issues arising in the assessment of the process are discussed:reliability of grading, comparability of the grades and scores(equating),maintenance of standards, and compilation and use of the grading process,and their integration in the operational grading are proposed. Variousschemes for score adjustment are reviewed and feasibility of theirimplementation discussed. The advantages of pretesting of items and ofempirical checks of experts' judgements are pointed out. The paperconcludes with an outline of a planned reorganisation of the highereducation in Spain, and with a call for a comprehensive programme ofempirical research concurrent with the operation of the examination andscoring system.

Ympäristökasvatuksen opetussuunnitelmateoreettinen malli liiketalouden koulutukseen

English abstract: A curriculum model of environmental education for a business school context

Proyecto DIL-D: Grado de Desarrollo de políticas y estrategias de Integración Laboral de las personas con Discapacidad en las organizaciones que operan en territorio nacional. Informe de investigación Resultados del primer año

El presente informe expone los principales resultados alcanzados en el primer año de andadura de la Cátedra UB – Fundación Adecco para la Integración Laboral de Personas con Discapacidad (http://www.ub.edu/catedrainlab/). Esta Cátedra parte de la necesidad de analizar y evaluar el impacto que tiene en las empresas una estrategia de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC)1 orientada a la integración laboral de las personas con discapacidad, en la calidad de vida laboral y en los niveles de efectividad organizacional.

Proyecto EFO+CVL: Influencia del desarrollo de políticas y estrategias de integración laboral de las personas con discapacidad en la efectividad organizativa (EfO) y la calidad de vida laboral (CVL). Informe de investigación Resultados del segundo año

El presente informe tiene por objeto exponer los resultados correspondientes al segundo año de andadura de la Cátedra UB – Fundación Adecco para la Integración Laboral de Personas con Discapacidad (http://www.ub.edu/catedrainlab/).

Teaching mathematics and programming : new approaches with empirical evaluation

Programming and mathematics are core areas of computer science (CS) and consequently also important parts of CS education. Introductory instruction in these two topics is, however, not without problems. Studies show that CS students find programming difficult to learn and that teaching mathematical topics to CS novices is challenging. One reason for the latter is the disconnection between mathematics and programming found in many CS curricula, which results in students not seeing the relevance of the subject for their studies. In addition, reports indicate that students' mathematical capability and maturity levels are dropping. The challenges faced when teaching mathematics and programming at CS departments can also be traced back to gaps in students' prior education. In Finland the high school curriculum does not include CS as a subject; instead, focus is on learning to use the computer and its applications as tools. Similarly, many of the mathematics courses emphasize application of formulas, while logic, formalisms and proofs, which are important in CS, are avoided. Consequently, high school graduates are not well prepared for studies in CS. Motivated by these challenges, the goal of the present work is to describe new approaches to teaching mathematics and programming aimed at addressing these issues: Structured derivations is a logic-based approach to teaching mathematics, where formalisms and justifications are made explicit. The aim is to help students become better at communicating their reasoning using mathematical language and logical notation at the same time as they become more confident with formalisms. The Python programming language was originally designed with education in mind, and has a simple syntax compared to many other popular languages. The aim of using it in instruction is to address algorithms and their implementation in a way that allows focus to be put on learning algorithmic thinking and programming instead of on learning a complex syntax. Invariant based programming is a diagrammatic approach to developing programs that are correct by construction. The approach is based on elementary propositional and predicate logic, and makes explicit the underlying mathematical foundations of programming. The aim is also to show how mathematics in general, and logic in particular, can be used to create better programs.

Collectiveness within startup teams – Leading the way to initiating and managing collective pursuit of opportunities in organizational contexts

While traditional entrepreneurship literature addresses the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities to a solo entrepreneur, scholars increasingly agree that new ventures are often founded and operated by entrepreneurial teams as collective efforts especially in hightechnology industries. Researchers also suggest that team ventures are more likely to survive and succeed than ventures founded by the individual entrepreneur although specific challenges might relate to multiple individuals being involved in joint entrepreneurial action. In addition to new ventures, entrepreneurial teams are seen central for organizing work in established organizations since the teams are able to create major product and service innovations that drive organizational success. Acknowledgement of the entrepreneurial teams in various organizational contexts has challenged the notion on the individual entrepreneur. However, considering that entrepreneurial teams represent a collective-level phenomenon that bases on interactions between organizational members, entrepreneurial teams may not have been studied as indepth as could be expected from the point of view of the team-level, rather than the individual or the individuals in the team. Many entrepreneurial team studies adopt the individualized view of entrepreneurship and examine the team members’ aggregate characteristics or the role of a lead entrepreneur. The previous understandings might not offer a comprehensive and indepth enough understanding of collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams and team venture performance that often relates to the team-level issues in particular. In addition, as the collective-level of entrepreneurial teams has been approached in various ways in the existing literatures, the phenomenon has been difficult to understand in research and practice. Hence, there is a need to understand entrepreneurial teams at the collective-level through a systematic and comprehensive perspective. This study takes part in the discussions on entrepreneurial teams. The overall objective of this study is to offer a description and understanding of collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams beyond individual(s). The research questions of the study are: 1) what collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams stands for, what constitutes the basic elements of it, and who are included in it, 2) why, how, and when collectiveness emerges or reinforces within entrepreneurial teams, and 3) why collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams matters and how it could be developed or supported. In order to answer the above questions, this study bases on three approaches, two set of empirical data, two analysis techniques, and conceptual study. The first data set consists of 12 qualitative semi-structured interviews with business school students who are seen as prospective entrepreneurs. The data is approached through a social constructionist perspective and analyzed through discourse analysis. The second data set bases on a qualitative multiplecase study approach that aims at theory elaboration. The main data consists of 14 individual and four group semi-structured thematic interviews with members of core entrepreneurial teams of four team startups in high-technology industries. The secondary data includes publicly available documents. This data set is approached through a critical realist perspective and analyzed through systematic thematic analysis. The study is completed through a conceptual study that aims at building a theoretical model of collective-level entrepreneurship drawing from existing literatures on organizational theory and social-psychology. The theoretical work applies a positivist perspective. This study consists of two parts. The first part includes an overview that introduces the research background, knowledge gaps and objectives, research strategy, and key concepts. It also outlines the existing knowledge of entrepreneurial team literature, presents and justifies the choices of paradigms and methods, summarizes the publications, and synthesizes the findings through answering the above mentioned research questions. The second part consists of five publications that address independent research questions but all enable to answer the research questions set for this study as a whole. The findings of this study suggest a map of relevant concepts and their relationships that help grasp collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams. The analyses conducted in the publications suggest that collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams stands for cognitive and affective structures in-between team members including elements of collective entity, collective idea of business, collective effort, collective attitudes and motivations, and collective feelings. Collectiveness within entrepreneurial teams also stands for specific joint entrepreneurial action components in which the structures are constructed. The action components reflect equality and democracy, and open and direct communication in particular. Collectiveness emerges because it is a powerful tool for overcoming individualized barriers to entrepreneurship and due to collectively oriented desire for, collective value orientation to, demand for, and encouragement to team entrepreneurship. Collectiveness emerges and reinforces in processes of joint creation and realization of entrepreneurial opportunities including joint analysis and planning of the opportunities and strategies, decision-making and realization of the opportunities, and evaluation, feedback, and sanctions of entrepreneurial action. Collectiveness matters because it is relevant for potential future entrepreneurs and because it affects the ways collective ventures are initiated and managed. Collectiveness also matters because it is a versatile, dynamic, and malleable phenomenon and the ideas of it can be applied across organizational contexts that require team work in discovering or creating and realizing new opportunities. This study further discusses how the findings add to the existing knowledge of entrepreneurial team literature and how the ideas can be applied in educational, managerial, and policy contexts.

L'insertion professionnelle des jeunes n'ayant pas complété leurs études secondaires

Dans les recherches québécoises sur l’insertion en emploi des jeunes et dans les considérations de la population en général, il est bien ancré que le fait de décrocher du secondaire sans avoir obtenu de diplôme mène éventuellement et inévitablement à des difficultés d’insertion dans le marché du travail. Toutefois, lorsque l’on entreprend de vérifier l’origine de cette considération, on ne trouve que très peu de réponses, puisque les enquêtes sur l’insertion des jeunes au Québec et au Canada ont presque toujours ignoré les jeunes sans diplômes et les recherches traitant du sujet citent souvent des sources non probantes. Dans ce mémoire, nous avons utilisé une enquête récente qui n’est pas restreinte aux seuls diplômés pour étudier l’insertion des jeunes, en faisant l’hypothèse que les jeunes décrocheurs du secondaire du Québec et du reste du Canada n’ont pas significativement plus de chances de connaître des insertions en emploi difficiles que les jeunes n’ayant que ce niveau de diplôme à leur actif. Nos résultats ne nous permettent pas d’affirmer que les décrocheurs ne connaissent pas plus de problèmes d’insertion que les diplômés du secondaire, mais ils montrent tout de même que d’autres variables sont bien plus déterminantes. L’intérêt de ce mémoire ne s’arrête pas à la comparaison statistique entre les deux groupes de jeunes à l’étude, il se veut être une réflexion théorique sur la notion d’insertion, sur les raisons qui expliquent son caractère restrictif, et sur les paradigmes qui inspirent ce champ de recherche.

Architecture et mission pédagogique : regards sur le campus de l'Université de Montréal et de l'école des HEC à l'ère d'une société de la connaissance

Toutes les photos présentes dans ce mémoire (sauf indication contraire) ont été réalisées par Dan Antonat (c).

Effet de la classe ou expériences scolaires? : étude sur l'élaboration et la variation des aspirations scolaires réalistes des étudiant(e)s canadien(ne)s au regard des études universitaires

Cette thèse a été réalisée, entre autres, grâce à une subvention reçue du Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture et de son partenaire le ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) Les analyses contenues dans cette thèse ont été réalisées au Centre interuniversitaire québécois de statistiques sociales (CIQSS), membre du Réseau canadien des centres de données de recherche (RCCDR). Les activités du CIQSS sont rendues possibles grâce à l’appui financier du CRSHC, des IRSC, de la FCI, de Statistique Canada, du FRQSC ainsi que de l’ensemble des universités québécoises qui participent à leur financement. Les idées exprimées dans ce texte sont celles des auteurs et non celles des partenaires financiers.