Comércio bilateral Portugal - Brasil

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização Orientadora: Professora Doutora Celsa Maria de Carvalho Machado

Industrial policy, comparative advantages and growth

Includes bibliography

Identifying the role of natural resources in knowledge-based strategies of development

Knowledge has adopted a preferential role in the explanation of development while the evidence about the effect of natural resources in countries’ performance is more controversial in the economic literature. This paper tries to demonstrate that natural resources may positively affect growth in countries with a strong natural resources specialization pattern although the magnitude of these effects depend on the type of resources and on other aspects related to the production and innovation systems. The positive trajectory described by a set of national economies mainly specialized in natural resources and low-tech industries invites us to analyze what is the combination of factors that serves as engine for a sustainable development process. With panel data for the period 1996-2008 we estimate an applied growth model where both traditional factors and other more related to innovation and absorptive capabilities are taken into account. Our empirical findings show that according to the postulates of a knowledge-based approach, a framework that combines physical and intangible factors is more suitable for the definition of development strategies in those prosperous economies dominated by natural resources and connected activities, while the internationalization process of activities and technologies become also a very relevant aspect.

Padrão de especialização comercial e crescimento econômico : uma análise sobre o Brasil no contexto da fragmentação da produção e das cadeias globais de valor

Globalization and technological changes that has happened since the 80s have brought remarkable changes in the industrial and commercial paradigm, which are expressed mainly in the international fragmentation of production and in the formation of Global Value Chains (GVC). This thesis sought to understand such phenomena and discuss new relevant variables in this context for a more accurate analysis of the current trade patterns not addressed by the seminal economic theories that relate trade and economic growth. It sought to evaluate how the trade specialization pattern of Brazil evolved compared to other economies (China, India, Russia, United States, Japan and selected Latin American economies) in the light of these phenomena from 1995 to 2011. Therefore, we have used the methodology of gross exports decomposition in value added measures, developed by Koopman et al. (2014), and indicators estimated from data of two global matrices I-O: a WIOT (2013) and the TiVA (2015). It was also tested two hypotheses regarding the role of these phenomena as determinants of economic growth in recent years: 1º) fragmentation and participation in GVC ensure higher growth rates for countries; 2º) the place (stage) in which the country finds itself in GVC associated with sectoral technological aspects is also important for economic growth. For this, we used dynamic panel models (Difference GMM and System GMM) for a sample of 40 countries from 2003 to 2011. The studies carried out on Brazil show that the country is no longer on the margins of these phenomena, because it shows increasing rates of participation in GVC, including in sectors considered most strategic for fragmentation. However, there is not a standard convergence of trade specialization of the country to those presented by developed countries or movements earned by China and Mexico in terms of their position and profile of participating in GVC. Another important result obtained by the thesis is the identification of these phenomena are in fact new variables relevant for economic growth, because it shows empirical evidences to support the hypothesis 1 and, partially, the hypothesis 2. A joint analysis of the estimated econometric results with the results of the descriptive analysis of the Brazilian economy, it leads us to conclude that the trade specialization pattern of the country in the context of the new trade setups is presented unfavorably to its growth strategy.

Inner-ear morphology of the New Zealand Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) suggests high-frequency specialization

The sensory systems of the New Zealand kiwi appear to be uniquely adapted to occupy a nocturnal ground-dwelling niche. In addition to well-developed tactile and olfactory systems, the auditory system shows specializations of the ear, which are maintained along the central nervous system. Here, we provide a detailed description of the auditory nerve, hair cells, and stereovillar bundle orientation of the hair cells in the North Island brown kiwi. The auditory nerve of the kiwi contained about 8,000 fibers. Using the number of hair cells and innervating nerve fibers to calculate a ratio of average innervation density showed that the afferent innervation ratio in kiwi was denser than in most other birds examined. The average diameters of cochlear afferent axons in kiwi showed the typical gradient across the tonotopic axis. The kiwi basilar papilla showed a clear differentiation of tall and short hair cells. The proportion of short hair cells was higher than in the emu and likely reflects a bias towards higher frequencies represented on the kiwi basilar papilla. The orientation of the stereovillar bundles in the kiwi basilar papilla showed a pattern similar to that in most other birds but was most similar to that of the emu. Overall, many features of the auditory nerve, hair cells, and stereovilli bundle orientation in the kiwi are typical of most birds examined. Some features of the kiwi auditory system do, however, support a high-frequency specialization, specifically the innervation density and generally small size of hair-cell somata, whereas others showed the presumed ancestral condition similar to that found in the emu.

Specifying Reuse Interfaces for Task-Oriented Framework Specialization

Reuse of existing carefully designed and tested software improves the quality of new software systems and reduces their development costs. Object-oriented frameworks provide an established means for software reuse on the levels of both architectural design and concrete implementation. Unfortunately, due to frame-works complexity that typically results from their flexibility and overall abstract nature, there are severe problems in using frameworks. Patterns are generally accepted as a convenient way of documenting frameworks and their reuse interfaces. In this thesis it is argued, however, that mere static documentation is not enough to solve the problems related to framework usage. Instead, proper interactive assistance tools are needed in order to enable system-atic framework-based software production. This thesis shows how patterns that document a framework s reuse interface can be represented as dependency graphs, and how dynamic lists of programming tasks can be generated from those graphs to assist the process of using a framework to build an application. This approach to framework specialization combines the ideas of framework cookbooks and task-oriented user interfaces. Tasks provide assistance in (1) cre-ating new code that complies with the framework reuse interface specification, (2) assuring the consistency between existing code and the specification, and (3) adjusting existing code to meet the terms of the specification. Besides illustrating how task-orientation can be applied in the context of using frameworks, this thesis describes a systematic methodology for modeling any framework reuse interface in terms of software patterns based on dependency graphs. The methodology shows how framework-specific reuse interface specifi-cations can be derived from a library of existing reusable pattern hierarchies. Since the methodology focuses on reusing patterns, it also alleviates the recog-nized problem of framework reuse interface specification becoming complicated and unmanageable for frameworks of realistic size. The ideas and methods proposed in this thesis have been tested through imple-menting a framework specialization tool called JavaFrames. JavaFrames uses role-based patterns that specify a reuse interface of a framework to guide frame-work specialization in a task-oriented manner. This thesis reports the results of cases studies in which JavaFrames and the hierarchical framework reuse inter-face modeling methodology were applied to the Struts web application frame-work and the JHotDraw drawing editor framework.

Development of hemispheric specialization for lexical pitch-accent in Japanese infants.

Infants' speech perception abilities change through the first year of life, from broad sensitivity to a wide range of speech contrasts to becoming more finely attuned to their native language. What remains unclear, however, is how this perceptual change relates to brain responses to native language contrasts in terms of the functional specialization of the left and right hemispheres. Here, to elucidate the developmental changes in functional lateralization accompanying this perceptual change, we conducted two experiments on Japanese infants using Japanese lexical pitch-accent, which changes word meanings with the pitch pattern within words. In the first behavioral experiment, using visual habituation, we confirmed that infants at both 4 and 10 months have sensitivities to the lexical pitch-accent pattern change embedded in disyllabic words. In the second experiment, near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure cortical hemodynamic responses in the left and right hemispheres to the same lexical pitch-accent pattern changes and their pure tone counterparts. We found that brain responses to the pitch change within words differed between 4- and 10-month-old infants in terms of functional lateralization: Left hemisphere dominance for the perception of the pitch change embedded in words was seen only in the 10-month-olds. These results suggest that the perceptual change in Japanese lexical pitch-accent may be related to a shift in functional lateralization from bilateral to left hemisphere dominance.

Nested diets: a novel pattern of individual-level resource use

Many generalist populations may actually be composed of relatively specialist individuals. This `individual specialization` may have important ecological and evolutionary implications. Although this phenomenon has been documented in more than one hundred taxa, it is still unclear how individuals within a population actually partition resources. Here we applied several methods based on network theory to investigate the intrapopulation patterns of resource use in the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus microtarsus. We found evidence of significant individual specialization in this species and that the diets of specialists are nested within the diets of generalists. This novel pattern is consistent with a recently proposed model of optimal foraging and implies strong asymmetry in the interactions among individuals of a population.

Are Central American export specialization patterns "sticky"?

Includes bibliography

Regional Specialization in Communal Agriculture: The Shakers, 1850- 1880

When the Shakers established communal farms in the Ohio Valley, they encountered a new agricultural environment that was substantially different from the familiar soils, climates, and markets of New England and the Hudson Valley. The ways in which their response to these new conditions differed by region has not been well documented. We examine patterns of specialization among the Shakers using the manuscript schedules of the federal Agricultural Censuses from 1850 through 1880. For each Shaker unit, we also recorded a random sample of five farms in the same township (or all available farms if there were fewer than five). The sample of neighboring farms included 75 in 1850, 70 in the next two census years, and 66 in 1880. A Herfindahl-type index suggested that, although the level of specialization was less among the Shakers than their neighbors, trends in specialization by the Shakers and their neighbors were remarkably similar when considered by region. Both Eastern and Western Shakers were more heavily committed to dairy and produce than were their neighbors, while Western Shakers produced more grains than did Eastern Shakers, a pattern imitated in nearby family farms. Livestock and related production was far more important to the Eastern Shakers than to the Western Shakers, again similar to patterns in the census returns from other farms. We conclude that, despite the obvious scale and organizational differences, Shaker production decisions were based on the same comparative advantages that determined production decisions of family farms.

Regional specialization in pyramidal cell structure in the limbic cortex of the vervet monkey (Cercopithecus pygerythrus): an intracellular injection study of the anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus

The pyramidal cell phenotype varies quite dramatically in structure among different cortical areas in the primate brain. Comparative studies in visual cortex, in particular, but also in sensorimotor and prefrontal cortex, reveal systematic trends for pyramidal cell specialization in functionally related cortical areas. Moreover, there are systematic differences in the extent of these trends between different primate species. Recently we demonstrated differences in pyramidal cell structure in the cingulate cortex of the macaque monkey; however, in the absence of other comparative data it remains unknown as to whether the neuronal phenotype differs in cingulate cortex between species. Here we extend the basis for comparison by studying the structure of the basal dendritic trees of layer III pyramidal cells in the posterior and anterior cingulate gyrus of the vervet monkey (Brodmann's areas 23 and 24, respectively). Cells were injected with Lucifer Yellow in flat-mounted cortical slices, and processed for a light-stable DAB reaction product. Size, branching pattern, and spine density of basal dendritic arbors were determined, and somal areas measured. As in the macaque monkey, we found that pyramidal cells in anterior cingulate gyrus (area 24) were more branched and more spinous than those in posterior cingulate gyrus (area 23). In addition, the extent of the difference in pyramidal cell structure between these two cortical regions was less in the vervet monkey than in the macaque monkey.

Topography of the visual evoked magnetic response and hemispherical specialization

The visual evoked magnetic response CIIm component to a pattern onset stimulus presented half field produced a consistent scalp topography in 15 normal subjects. The major response was seen over the contralateral hemisphere, suggesting a dipole with current flowing away from the medial surface of the brain. Full field responses were more unpredictable. The reponses of five subjects were studied to the onset of a full, left half and right half checkerboard stimuli of 38 x 27 min arc checks appearing for 200 ms. In two subjects the full field CIIm topography was consistent with that of the mathematical summation of their relevant half field distribution. The remaining subjects had unpredictable full field topographies, showing little or no relationship to their half or summated half fields. In each of these subjects, a distribution matching that of the summated half field CIIm distribution appears at an earlier latency than that of the predominant full field waveform peak. By examining the topography of the full and half field responses at 5 ms intervals along the waveform for one such subject, the CIIm topography of the right hemisphere develops 10 ms before that of the left hemisphere, and is replaced by the following CIIIm component 20 ms earlier. Hence, the large peak seen in full field results from a combination of the CIIm component of the left hemisphere plus that of the CIIIm from the right. The earlier peak results from the CIIm generated in both hemispheres, at a latency where both show similar amplitudes. As the relative amplitudes of these two peaks alter with check and field size, topographic studies would be required for accurate CIIm identification. In addition. the CIIm-CIIIm complex lasts for 80 ms in the right hemisphere and 135 ms in the left, suggesting hemispherical apecialization in the visual processing of the pattern onset response.

Pattern-based analysis of EAI languages : the case of the business modelling language

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is a challenging area that is attracting growing attention from the software industry and the research community. A landscape of languages and techniques for EAI has emerged and is continuously being enriched with new proposals from different software vendors and coalitions. However, little or no effort has been dedicated to systematically evaluate and compare these languages and techniques. The work reported in this paper is a first step in this direction. It presents an in-depth analysis of a language, namely the Business Modeling Language, specifically developed for EAI. The framework used for this analysis is based on a number of workflow and communication patterns. This framework provides a basis for evaluating the advantages and drawbacks of EAI languages with respect to recurrent problems and situations.