Soft money : private foundations of party politics

In the area of campaign financing in federal elections, one of the most controversial issues is that of soft money. Soft money refers to those funds raised by the national party organizations for use on various grassroots and party-building activities. but which are not subject to the restraints of federal campaign finance law. Critics contend that these party-building activitie, such as generic television advertising, voter registration and get-out-the vote drives, provide ancillary benefits to federal candidates and should, therefore, be subject to federal contribution and expenditure limits. Critics further argue that because these funds are not subject to federal law and do benefit federal candidates, the national parties raise monies in amounts and from sources, such as corporations and unions, that are prohibited under federal law. Efforts to gain a better understanding of soft money have been hampered by a lack of data, as the national parties were not required to disclose their soft money receipts and transactions until 1991. The purpose of this study is to analyze data recently made available in an attempt to add the import of empirical evidence to the debate over soft money. The nature, size and timing of soft money contributions are investigated and national party soft money disbursements are examined. The findings suggest that any attempts to reform the soft money system must first consider its compensatory benefits. Most prominently, this includes the extent to which soft money has promoted the resurgence of the national party organizations in the context of election politics.

Organizações não-governamentais na (Re)construção da sociedade civil no Brasil: (dinâmicas, sujeitos e vinculações entre público e privado nos anos 90)

One of the main features of Brazilian civil society in the nineties is the widespread presence of nongovernamental organizations, religious and secular associations, and the emergence of private foundations as a social mediator midway state and market institutions. This research is a bibliographical discussion of the Social Sciences literature about these organizations, pertinent with their quantitative and qualitative profiles and scope of actions, identities and future role in the construction of the active citizenship in Brasil.

Análise das práticas administrativas de uma fundação empresarial aberta

The goal of this work is to present a contribution to the critical analysis of the rationality that supports the action of the members of productive organizations, starting from a perspective of the man's emancipation in the ambit of the work. The focus of attention is related to the administrative practices of one of the largest Brazilian's private foundations that they were analyzed based on the distinction among instrumental and substantive rationality and of the theory of the communicative action. The main research method used was the 'participant observation' that allowed to the author to verify in loco the rationality that permeates the administrative practices of the researched Foundation. The importance of this study is in the fact that are scarce the studies about the management of nonprofit organizations. For increasing, every day, the emphasis that the society is giving to the third sector, for the expectation of its growth, so much in quantitative level as of influence degree about the people's life, and for placing in the position of offering answers and solutions for the problems that the State doesn't get to solve, the third sector and its organizations need a theoretical reference for its administration that is coherent with its emancipatory purpose. The results led to conclusions that alert the managers of the private foundations to review the practices adopted in the management of those organizations and stimulate the debate and the continuity of researches on the theme.

Fundações privadas e precarização do trabalho docente na UNESP: 1995-2008

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Intercâmbios acadêmicos matemáticos entre EUA e Brasil: uma globalização do saber

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O público e o privado nas universidades públicas: análise da fundação de apoio privada FADESP no gerenciamento dos recursos para a UFPA (2004 a 2008)

Este estudo tem como objetivo central analisar a parceria entre o público e o privado, estabelecida entre as universidades federais e as fundações de apoio privadas (FAP), no gerenciamento de recursos para a instituição apoiada, tendo como caso a relação entre a Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) e a Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa (FADESP), no período de 2004 a 2008, analisadas a partir dos relatórios de prestação de contas e documentos institucionais. Para compreender a realidade como resultado de processos históricos das relações humanas, partiu-se da premissa de que o esgotamento do modelo de gestão das universidades públicas no Brasil, financiadas exclusivamente com recursos do erário, acentuou-se a partir da década de 1990 com a Reforma do Estado no governo de Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Com a materialização das políticas de diminuição de recursos públicos introduziu a perspectiva de busca de vias alternativas de receitas para uma aparente manutenção das instituições públicas por entidades privadas como as FAP, políticas continuadas pelo governo de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. O estudo apontou que, apesar da introdução da lógica de mercado e da naturalização da parceria com o privado no interior das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES), a relação entre público e privado é sustentada, essencialmente, com recursos públicos. Isso se reflete na expansão no número de FAP credenciadas junto às universidades federais, multiplicando-se em mais de 154% nos últimos 10 anos. Das 55 universidades públicas federais do Brasil, apenas cinco não possuem FAP credenciada, e as restantes apresentam 85 FAP gerenciando seus recursos. No caso da FADESP, no gerenciamento de recursos para a UFPA, abstraiu-se que: a) A FADESP atua há mais de 30 anos no interior da universidade e, embora seus relatórios de prestação de conta sejam apresentados de forma pública no conselho superior, isso se deu somente a partir de 2004 pela exigência do Decreto n° 5.204; b) Há ausência de observância da prestação de contas anual estabelecida pelo marco regulatório das FAP e o regimento da UFPA; c) Os Relatórios de Atividades são organizados diferentemente a cada ano, dificultando a compreensão dos mesmos por parte dos conselheiros da UFPA; d) A fundação apresenta no período investigado (2004-2008) um crescimento de 532,1% no volume de recursos gerenciados; e) Do total de recursos gerenciados pela fundação, em 2008, 94% representam recursos captados pela UFPA, especialmente por professores-pesquisadores, evidenciando uma nova identidade para a universidade pública, como produtora de conhecimento para valorização do capital, na qual a FAP é intermediadora dos processos administrativo-financeiros; t) O apoio real prestado pela fundação à UFPA, através da criação do Programa de Apoio (PROAP), é irrisório considerando o superávit da fundação que, em 2008, ultrapassou um milhão de reais; g) A FADESP atua com entendimento equivocado de Desenvolvimento Institucional, associando este como uma forma de prestação de serviço a outras instituições públicas e privadas, o que desvirtua a observância do marco regulatório das FAP e, por conseguinte, a missão institucional da UFPA.

Propostas Curriculares Para o Ensino Médio (1998/2013): uma análise sob a ótica de Jürgen Habermas

Pós-graduação em Educação Escolar - FCLAR

Australian foundations and the downturn

Building on the investigation of the Charity Commission (2009) on the effects of the economic downturn on the largest trusts and foundation in the United Kingdom, the purpose of this research was to assess the extent to which Australian trusts and foundations were taking an actively strategic approach to their investments and pursuit of mission (including grant-making), and the relationship between the two in the context of the economic downturn. Focus was given to identifying the issues raised as a consequence of the economic downturn, rather than providing a generalised snapshot of the ‘average’ foundations response. In September 2009, semi-structured, in depth interviews were conducted with executives of 23 grant making trusts and foundations. The interviews for this research focused on the largest grant makers in terms of grant expenditure, however included foundations from different geographical locations and from across different cause areas. It is important to stress at the outset that this was not a representative sample of foundations; the study aimed to identify issues rather than to present a representative picture of the ‘average’ foundation’s response. It is also important to note that the study was undertaken in September 2009 at a time when many foundations were beginning to feel more optimistic about the longer term future, but aware of continuing and possibly worsening short term income problems. But whatever the financial future, some of the underlying issues, concerning investment and grant making management practices, raised in this report will be of continuing relevance worthy of wider discussion. If a crisis is too good to waste, it is also too good to forget. One other introductory point – as previously noted, interviews for this study were conducted in September 2009 – just one month prior to the introduction of the new Private Ancillary Fund (PAF) legislation which replaced the previous Prescribed Private Fund (PPF) arrangement1. References to PAFs and/or PPFs reflect that time.

Accountable to everyone, or to no one? Perspectives on the accountability of Australian private ancillary funds

This thesis explores perspectives on the accountability of Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), a type of Australian endowed philanthropic foundation. Privately established for a public benefit purpose, with limited formal accountability requirements, there are differing and sometimes conflicting perspectives on the nature and scope of PAF accountability. Through in-depth interviews with managers and trustees of 10 PAFs, forms and relationships of PAF accountability are uncovered. Findings reveal accountability for PAFs does not necessarily include public disclosure or transparency. However, engagement with accountability for a PAF results in greater impact and satisfaction for those involved.

Population age structure and private consumption in Spain

In this paper we study the effect of population age distribution upon private consumption expenditure in Spain from 1964 to 1997 using aggregate data. We obtain four main results. First, changes in the population pyramid have substantial effects upon the behaviour of private consumption. Second, the pattern of the coefficients of the demographic variables is not consistent with the simplest version of the life cycle hypothesis. Third, we estimate the impact of the demographic transition upon consumption and find positive values associated with episodes in which the shares of groups of individuals with expenditure levels higher (lower) than the mean increased (decreased). Fourth, the results are robust to alternative specifications for the population age distribution.

Measuring design investment in firms: Conceptual foundations and exploratory UK survey

The importance of design to company and national performance has been widely discussed, with a number of studies investigating the value or impact of design on performance. However, none of these studies has measured design investment as an input against which performance can be compared. As yet, there is no established way in which design investment might be measured. Without such a method, we cannot develop a reliable picture, akin to that for R&D spending, on the impact of design spending on company performance. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the measurement of design investment and applies this framework in a survey of UK firms. The framework describes design as being part of the creation and commercialization of new products and services. The survey highlights some surprising patterns of design spend in the reported sample and demonstrates the viability of the underpinning framework. A revised framework is proposed that situates design investment in the context of R&D. The model has implications for policy makers trying to understand the role and scale of design in the private sector, for managers wishing to optimize their design investments and for academics seeking to measure the value of design. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Building International CSR on Solid Foundations: Location and Network Aspects of Nonmarket Environments in Europe and Non-Europe Markets. ACES Working Papers, 2011

Multinational companies' (MNCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs frequently comprise a portfolio of disconnected country-level programs or, alternatively, consist of blanket corporate policies that apply in the same way across the geographies where the company operates. Yet, the international nonmarket environment in which CSR programs operate is neither a completely fragmented nor a perfectly homogeneous one. Building on the concept of stakeholder-issue-networks, we develop a model that explicitly takes into consideration the role of geography in the characterization of a firm's nonmarket environment. This allows us to develop a taxonomy of nonmarket environments on the basis of their geographic spread and their degree of cross-border connectedness. We then explore the strategic and organizational implications that different ideal types of (cross-border) nonmarket environments have for the development of international CSR policies.

ANÁLISE DA ASSOCIAÇÃO DE OPERAÇÕES DE CAPITALIZAÇÃO DE PRIVATE EQUITY E VENTURE CAPITAL NO DESEMPENHO DE EMPRESAS COM AÇÕES NA BOVESPA

A vantagem competitiva e o desempenho organizacional são conceitos administrativos estreitamente ligados à competitividade das empresas e sua permanência no mercado a longo prazo. Para que alcancem tal objetivo, de acordo com os fundamentos da RBV, as capacidades organizacionais dessas empresas devem ser dinâmicas, o que significa estar à frente das mudanças ambientais, mantendo, criando e desenvolvendo novas capacidades. Um dos caminhos para que isso se realize é a aposta na sua capitalização, que pode ocorrer com a captação de recursos de terceiros ou recursos próprios, com maior ou menor grau de risco. A captação de recursos com capital de terceiros acontece, principalmente, via instituições financeiras e factorings. A captação por meio de capital próprio pode ocorrer por retenção de lucros ou pelo underwriting. A emissão feita via mercado primário configura a oferta pública inicial de ações ou Initial Public Offering (IPO). No Brasil, a escolha dos fundos de Private Equity e Venture Capital, segmentos do mercado financeiro que consistem fundamentalmente em aporte temporário de capital, vem crescendo consideravelmente nos últimos anos. Contudo, existem poucas pesquisas a respeito da utilização e do desempenho financeiro que esses fundos trazem para as empresas. O presente estudo procura averiguar se as empresas que estavam listadas na BOVESPA no período de 2002 a 2008 e que receberam recursos via Private Equity e Venture Capital com IPO desenvolveram desempenho financeiro superior às que receberam ou não outros tipos de financiamento no mesmo período. Foram selecionados dados secundários como: balanços patrimoniais, demonstração de resultados e valores das ações, utilizando-se da base de dados da Economática. Tomando o logaritmo do Q de Tobin como variável dependente e log_Ativo, Debt to Equity, ROA, crescimento de vendas, crescimento de investimentos, crescimento investimento Fama e CrescInv_endividamento como variáveis de controle, foram aplicados testes estatísticos, comparando a média dos índices, seguidos de análise por setor econômico, subsetor e segmento. Os resultados encontrados apontam que as empresas que receberam recursos via Private Equity e Venture Capital com IPO, tornaram-se diferentes das demais empresas que estavam listadas na BOVESPA naquele período. O presente trabalho busca, dessa forma, contribuir para o enriquecimento de conhecimento acadêmico acerca do tema.(AU)