CEF.UP – WiP Seminar

Tuesday – December 17^th, 2024 at 13:00h (1 pm) | Room 305

Nurturing the sustainable and circular economy: An integrated ecosystems model

Cristina Fernandes – FEP – School of Economics and Management – University of Porto, CEF.UP and NECE

Abstract:

“Environmental sustainability and the circular economy are receiving regular mention in literature as paradigms capable of addressing major social challenges. However, understanding how best to assist ecosystem transition toward a sustainable and circular economy ecosystem and which strategic variables are effective levers in nurturing its adoption, remaining elusive. This research investigates factors contributing to a successful transition towards green innovations. The study employed a four-study research designto achieve a holistic understanding across the multiple levels of the ecosystem. Firstly, a systematic literature review was conducted to develop a conceptual model for identifying variables to nurture the transition (study 1) across the interrelated layers of the ecosystem. Secondly, a micro-level analysis was undertaken using ANCOVA to examine the strategic orientations (market and product) that impacts green innovations of companies (study 2). Thirdly, a meso-level analysis was conducted, applying logistics regression to identify the moderating effect of industry type on the relationship between strategic orientations and green innovations (study 3). Finally, the study evaluated the impact of environmental assets on economic growth and the mediating role of Industry 4.0 on this relationship, using multiple regression panel data models. The development and empirical testing of the multi-level model contributes to this emerging field, to better reflect the integrated nature of ecosystems and identify advantageous strategies for nurturing ecosystem transition towards increased sustainable and the circular economy.”

CEF.UP – WiP Seminar

Tuesday – December 3^rd, 2024 at 13:00h (1 pm) | Room 305

Agglomeration in an urban corridor

José Gaspar – FEP – School of Economics and Management, University of Porto and Cef.Up

Abstract:

We study agglomeration within a corridor characterized by a continuous path connecting a finite number of places where cities may locate. As economic integration changes, a corridor may undergo successive bifurcations whereby the number of cities increases (decreases) two by two in a way that preserves the bilateral symmetry of places around the central place. We focus on the bifurcation from the state of full agglomeration in the central place occurring at a critical level of economic integration, called the sustain point. For a particular model, full agglomeration becomes unstable below the sustain point and two identical cities may emerge stably with the same distance to the central city. The existence and uniqueness of both the sustain point and the optimal distance to the central city are determined analytically. We find that cities can only emerge optimally at places that are sufficiently far away from the central place, thereby generating a polycentric structure. As integration increases, a preexisting state of twin cities may engender a central city, which grows in size and may eventually develop further into a core city. Finally, we draw a comparison of our model with its discrete–space analogue and discuss the impact of local dispersion forces (e.g. congestion costs) on agglomeration.

CEF.UP – WiP Seminar/Webinar

Friday – June 7^th, 2024 at 13:00h (1 pm) | Room 305 | Online

Fiscal Policy Dispersion in the Euro Area – a new quantitative index

Daniel Loureiro – FEP – School of Economics and Management – University of Porto and Cef.Up

Abstract:

“We developed a new Fiscal Dispersion Index to assess fiscal policy coordination in the Euro Area and complement the existent literature. We found greater fiscal policy dispersion around the years of economic crisis, signaling a deterioration of coordination. Besides, we highlighted Portugal as one the most problematic countries, continuously deviating from the average policies. However, the direction of the Portuguese deviation is not constant over time. It shifted from looser policies between 2000 and 2007 to tighter policies from 2016 to 2021. Moreover, we also found that Germany and Netherlands pursued tighter policies than the average, particularly when facing common shocks. Thus, we recommend that additional measures should be approved to improve coordination during the more challenging times, preventing insufficient expansionary policies. Failing to do so will likely hamper the credibility of the European framework and institutions.”

CEF.UP – WiP Seminar/Webinar

Friday – May 24^th, 2024 at 13:00h (1 pm) | Room 305 | Online

The Political Economy of Central Bank Digital Currencies and Monetary Policy

Francisco Nunes Pereira – FEP – School of Economics and Management, University of Porto and Cef.Up

Abstract:

This paper scrutinizes the monetary policy case in favor of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) from a political economy angle. The proponents of CBDCs argue that their introduction would streamline the monetary policy transmission mechanism, enable novel policy interventions, and enhance data collection capabilities, ultimately leading to improved central bank performance. However, the arrangements of monetary institutions result in central banks entangled in incentive and epistemic issues, which limit their performance. CBDCs not only fail to mitigate these problems but indeed exacerbate them. We argue that the central bank becomes more vulnerable to political interference and rent-seeking activities once a CBDC is created. Moreover, the enhanced ability to monitor economic activities may lead central banks to succumb to the ‘pretense of knowledge syndrome,’ which compounds the incentives for discretionary interventions. We conclude that there is a means-ends inconsistency in the monetary policy case for CBDCs.

CEF.UP – WiP Seminar/Webinar

Monday – April 22^nd, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. | Room 305 | Online

“Keeping it in the Family: Student to Degree Match”

Pedro Luís Silva – FEP, Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES) and Institute of Labour Economics (IZA) (joint work with Richard Murphy)

Abstract:

“This paper examines systematic inequalities in the match between students and the university degree they apply to, and enroll in. Using linked administrative data on the population of Portuguese applicants we create a transparent and continuous measure of student-to-degree match employing minimal assumptions. We find that students who are first in the family to attend post-secondary education consistently match to lower quality degrees across the entire achievement distribution. In contrast, only the highest achieving female students relatively undermatch. These gaps are larger at the application stage. We explore the role of student preferences and the consequences for intergenerational mobility.”

CEF.UP – WiP Seminar/Webinar

Tuesday – March 19^st, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. | Room 305 | Online

Title: “Fissured Firms and Worker Outcomes” (with Matias Cortes – York University;  Diego Dabed – Utrecht University; Anna Salomons – Utrecht University)

Ana Oliveira – Utrecht University (Netherlands)

Abstract:

“We consider how firms’ organization of production relates to workers’ wages. Using matched employer-employee data from Portugal, we document that, within detailed industries, firms differ starkly in terms of their occupational employment concentration, with some firms employing workers across a broad range of occupations and others being much more specialized. These differences are robustly predictive of wages: a worker employed in a specialized, i.e. `fissured’ firm earns less than that same worker employed in a less specialized firm. This wage penalty cannot exclusively be explained by worker-firm sorting, and is observed across a wide range of occupations. Firm specialization helps account for the role of firms in inequality: over half of the wage penalty from specialization is explained by differences in firm productivity, and firm specialization is strongly negatively related to AKM firm fixed effects. However, the evidence does not support a large role for increased pay transparency or lower rent-sharing as mechanisms for the observed wage penalty from firm specialization.”