Este trabalho apresenta-se como relatório de estágio curricular do Mestrado em Gestão da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, desenvolvido no Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais do Conselho Empresarial do Centro/Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro (CEC/CCIC). O seu tema principal é o estudo das parcerias entre empresas de diferentes países como factor de internacionalização, focando-se, através de experiência prática durante o referido estágio, no trabalho da rede Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), uma rede europeia de apoio às pequenas e médias empresas. Na primeira parte deste relatório é feito um levantamento dos estudos já existentes nesta área, nomeadamente nos campos da globalização, cooperação e alianças internacionais, motivos para a sua formação, vantagens e riscos, focando-se ainda as joint ventures internacionais e o caso particular das alianças na Europa. Na segunda parte é feita uma descrição das actividades desenvolvidas durante o estágio curricular, quer no âmbito da EEN, explicando os procedimentos adoptados por esta rede para promover a internacionalização de pequenas e médias empresas, quer de outros projectos realizados pelo CEC/CCIC no período de estágio. Por fim...

O presente trabalho apresenta-se como relatório de estágio curricular do Mestrado em Gestão da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, este trabalho foi desenvolvido no Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais do Conselho Empresarial do Centro/Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro (CEC/CCIC). O seu tema principal é o estudo das alianças estratégicas internacionais como consequência dos mercados globais, que foi estimulado pela crescente cooperação económica entre países. Estas alianças estratégicas globais, aquelas cujo âmbito de actuação ultrapassa as fronteiras de um país, permitem acelerar a expansão internacional da empresa. Neste estudo foca-se a experiência prática durante o referido estágio, onde desenvolvi as guias de investimento para ambas partes do Projecto CAVATRANS1 e as actividades referente à Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)2. Na primeira parte deste relatório é feito um levantamento dos estudos já existentes nesta área, nomeadamente nos campos da globalização, competitividade, cooperação e as alianças internacionais. Nos últimos anos o mercado está cada vez mais concorrido e o ambiente competitivo das empresas passa por mudanças cada vez mais aceleradas e profundas. E é por este novo cenário competitivo...

O presente trabalho apresenta-se como o relatório de estágio do Mestrado em Gestão da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, desenvolvido no CEC – Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro. O referido estágio foi desenvolvido maioritariamente no projeto Enterprise Europe Network, inserido no Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais. Estando relacionado com os temas do apoio às Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PME) no seu processo de internacionalização e inovação, o principal foco do estudo elaborado foi a internacionalização, nomeadamente os principais conceitos, motivações e respetivas barreiras. Através do levantamento de programas oferecidos pela União Europeia e pelo Governo Português, listaram-se as medidas adotadas para ajudar e apoiar as empresas portuguesas nos seus processos de internacionalização e captação de investimento, estimulação do desenvolvimento de plataformas globais para a Competitividade, Estabilidade e Crescimento, e Investigação, Desenvolvimento e Inovação. Na segunda parte do relatório foi realizada a apresentação da entidade de acolhimento, assim como a apresentação da Enterprise Europe Network e a descrição das atividades desenvolvidas durante as vinte semanas de estágio. Postas as informações sobre as formas de internacionalizar...

O presente relatório pretende apresentar o trabalho desenvolvido durante o estágio curricular integrado no Mestrado em Gestão da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, desenvolvido no Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais do CEC/CCIC – Conselho Empresarial do Centro/Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro, no período compreendido entre 17 de fevereiro e 3 de julho de 2014. O objetivo geral do estágio visou dar apoio aos projetos desenvolvidos pelo Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais, centrando-se principalmente nas atividades da rede Enterprise Europe Network e nos seus serviços de apoio à inovação e internacionalização da pequenas e médias empresas, na divulgação de eventos internacionais e nas atividades desenvolvidas decorrentes dos vários projetos transnacionais dos quais o CEC/CCIC – Conselho Empresarial do Centro/Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro é parceiro. Portanto, os principais motivos pela escolha do tema incidem, em parte, sobre a negociação internacional inerente às oportunidades de negócio do âmbito da rede Enterprise Europe Network destinadas à cooperação além fronteiras e realização de parcerias com empresas de outras nacionalidades e...

Este trabalho constitui o relatório de estágio curricular do mestrado em Economia pela Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra. O trabalho compõe-se de duas partes, uma componente teórica e uma descrição das atividades realizadas no âmbito do estágio. A componente teórica apresenta uma breve introdução à análise custo-benefício com o objetivo de conduzir a sugestões para a quantificação dos impactes intangíveis em investimentos com financiamento da União Europeia (UE). Assim, começa por descrever-se em que consiste a análise custo-benefício, quais as diretivas da UE para esta análise, como se avaliam os impactes intangíveis, e apresentar um enquadramento para a aplicação da análise custo-benefício a iniciativas do Conselho Empresarial do Centro/Câmara de Comércio e Indústria do Centro (CEC/CCIC). A descrição do estágio apresenta todas as atividades desempenhadas na entidade de acolhimento, que foi o CEC/CCIC, tais como, apoio a atividades da Câmara de Comércio e Indústria, participação em projetos desenvolvidos pelo Departamento de Cooperação e Relações Internacionais e apoio às atividades da Enterprise Europe Network. Faz-se ainda uma análise crítica às atividades desempenhadas. Na aplicação da componente teórica à prática foram elaborados dois questionários posteriormente aplicados aos participantes dos workshops do Projeto IDI&DNP (Investigação...

The concept of social exclusion, applied widely in the European Union, has in recent years been gaining use in Bangladesh, mostly by international development agencies. Does this discourse of deprivation, developed in the welfare states of northern Europe, have salience in its application to deprivation in countries like Bangladesh where, for example, 31% of the rural population lives in chronic poverty? The concept of social exclusion has three principal components: a dynamic and relational perspective which requires the identification of who or what causes exclusion; an explicit recognition of multiple dimensions of deprivation; and a longitudinal perspective, recognizing that individuals and groups are dynamic intra- and intergenerationally. The Social Exclusion Knowledge Network of the World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health expanded the concept to include health status as a contributor to and an outcome of exclusion and to show that actors beyond the state or public sector can critically impact exclusionary processes. In the Bangladesh application, the relevance of the modified model was explored to find that while there are negative associations between social exclusion and health status, much stronger documentation is needed of the relationship. The modification of including multiple sectors...

China has emerged as one of the top recipients of foreign direct investment in the world. Meanwhile, the successful transition experience of many Central and Eastern European countries has also allowed them to attract an increasing share of global foreign direct investment. In this paper, the authors use a panel data set to investigate whether foreign direct investment flows to these two regions are complements, substitutes, or independent of each other. Taking into account the role of host country characteristics - such as market size, degree of trade liberalization, and human capital - the authors find no evidence that foreign direct investment flows to one region are at the expense of those to the other. Instead, the results suggest that foreign direct investment flows are driven by distinct regional production networks (and thus are largely independent of each other) and the development of global supply chains (indicating that foreign direct investment flows are complementary).

The international diffusion of technology presents an opportunity for developing economies distant from the world technological frontier to reduce their income gap relative to advanced economies. It is therefore crucial to understand why, when faced with similar technological alternatives different firms in different countries choose to adopt different vintages of capital. This paper examines technology adoption across firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings show that access to complementary inputs - managerial capacity, skilled labor, finance, and good infrastructure - and to international knowledge - through foreign direct investment or exports - is an important correlate of technology adoption. The link between market incentives and technology adoption is more nuanced. Although consumer pressure results in technology adoption, competitor pressure does not, suggesting that only firms with rents are able to adopt technology given substantial resource constraints. Privatized firms exhibit better technology adoption outcomes but only when a clear private owner with a profit incentive is present. Better governance is associated with technology adoption only in the countries that joined the European Union in 2004. Future increases in technology adoption by firms in the region will require complementary reforms of the investment climate.

Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. This regional profile presents the Doing Business indicators for economies in South Asia (SA). It also shows the regional average, the best performance globally for each indicator and data for the following comparator regions: Latin America, East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and OECD High Income.

This report provides a techno-economic analysis of Web 2.0 and an assessment of Europe's position in Web 2.0 applications. Firstly, it introduces the phenomenon of Web 2.0 and its main characteristics: technologies, applications, and user roles. It then provides an overview of its adoption, value chain and business models, before moving to an analysis of its drivers, industrial impact and disruptive potential. Finally, the report assesses the position of the European Web 2.0 applications industry and its prospects for growth. "Web 2.0" is defined as a set of applications (blogs, wikis, social tagging, social gaming etc.), technologies (including AJAX, syndication feeds, mash-ups, and wiki engines) and user roles. The most pertinent characteristic of Web 2.0, as compared to the previous "version" of the Web, is that it enables users to become, with little effort, a co-provider of content. The available figures about recent Web 2.0 diffusion deliver two messages. Firstly, its spread is extremely rapid by any standards, although not uniform for all its applications. Secondly, the intensity with which users participate differs a lot. At the centre of the Web 2.0 value chain are the providers of Web 2.0 applications who may be pure Web 2.0 players or traditional players from related industries such as the media and Web 1.0 industry. They provide opportunities for users to network and/or to create content. As yet...

The importance of weather, climate, and water1 information is rising because of the need to serve more elaborate societal needs, minimize growing economic losses, and help countries adapt to climate change. Weather, climate, and water affect societies and economies through extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, high winds, storm surges, and prolonged droughts, and through high-impact weather and climate events that affect demand for electricity and production capacity, planting and harvesting dates, management of construction, transportation networks and inventories, and human health. The key players are the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), which are the backbone of the global weather and climate enterprise. By international agreement under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), they are the government's authoritative source of weather, climate, and water information, providing timely input to emergency managers, national and local administrations, the public, and critical economic sectors. The report underscores the urgent need to strengthen NMHSs, especially those in developing countries, and provides cost-benefit estimates of the return that countries can hope to achieve. It also offers a recommended approach that has been tested and implemented in Europe...

This paper discusses the role of the postal network in expanding access to financial services in Kazakhstan. It reviews the public postal operator within the postal sector and within the broader context of the communications sector. The roles of the postal network and state and privately-owned banks are also reviewed from the perspective of the financial sector development, with particular focus on payments systems development and microfinance. While this country case on Kazakhstan can stand alone, it is an integral part of this large study of the potential of postal networks to coordinate with financial service providers in 7 countries (Egypt, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Romania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Vietnam) and 5 regions (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and Northern Africa). Within Central Asia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan's postal network is widely regarded as a leader and pioneer in postal innovation, setting an example for other postal operators in the region. An in-depth assessment of Kazakhstan's postal network development options could also be a model to guide other postal networks.

Romania was one of the first transition countries in Europe to introduce auctions for allocating standing timber (stumpage) in public forests. In comparison with the former system in the country-administrative allocation at set prices-timber auctions offer several potential advantages: greater revenue generation for the government, a higher probability that tracts will be allocated to the firms that value them most highly, and stronger incentives for technological change within industry and efficiency gains in the public sector. Competition is the key to realizing these advantages. Unfortunately, collusion among bidders often limits competition in timber auctions, including in well-established market economies such as the United States. The result is that tracts sell below their fair market value, which undermines the advantages of auctions. This paper examines the Romanian auction system, with a focus on the use of econometric methods to detect collusion. It begins by describing the historical development of the system and the principal steps in the auction process. It then discusses the qualitative impacts of various economic and institutional factors, including collusion, on winning bids in different regions of the country. This discussion draws on information from a combination of sources...

Africa's financial systems face challenges across many dimensions, as discussed in the report financing Africa: through the crisis and beyond. The analysis in that report was based partly on several detailed background papers that are included in this volume. The next six chapters are written by experts in their respective areas and provide an in-depth analysis of these challenges and present possible solutions. In this introduction, the authors provide an overview of the different chapters and how they are related to each other and the main volume. The three chapters in first part focus on key challenges concerned with access to financial services, including financial and operational deficiencies in the microfinance market, reaping the benefits from the technological revolution of retail banking, and deepening and broadening agricultural finance across Africa. The three chapters thus each cover different aspects with a different focus, ranging from an institutional approach to a focus on innovation as a driver of financial broadening to an important element of financial infrastructure to a specific sector. The second part includes the fourth chapter...

The Greater Mekong subregion--Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province of southern China--has good potential for international power trade. Initial interest in this market is being spearheaded by private developers negotiating bilateral cross-border trade agreements. But experience in power trade zones in Europe and North America shows that to achieve the benefits of fully fledged trade, the countries in the subregion need to closely coordinate electricity sector policy, operating protocols, and network development. This Note sets out the market development options, reviews sector reforms so far, assesses the obstacles to full power trade, and briefly outlines multilateral efforts to promote an infrastructure that will support international power trade in the subregion.

Using firm-level data on manufacturing sectors in Africa, this paper addresses how domestic supply constraints and other firm characteristics explain the geographical orientation of firms' exports and the overall market diversification of African manufacturing exports. The degree of market diversification, measured by the number of export destinations, is highly correlated with export intensity at the firm level, and both embody strong scale effects. Technological factors, such as new vintage capital and Internet access, which improve production efficiency and lower export costs, show strong effects on the firm-level export intensity. Some qualitative differences exist between Africa's regional exports and exports to the global markets. Foreign ownership is a significant factor in characterizing the intensity of global exports but not regional exports. The technological factors are significant in both cases, but more so in global exports. Public infrastructure constraints, such as inferior power services and customs delays...

Conocer las herramientas necesarias para generar productos de mayor valor agregado aplicando innovación en su actividad (equipamiento actualidad técnica y normativas) específicamente: Conocimiento de tendencias en nuevos productos del mar y en la innovación en procesos a través de la visita guiada a European Seafood Exposition 2010 y Seafood Processing Europe principal exposición internacional de frutos de mar, equipamiento, tecnología y procesos, búsqueda de potenciales proveedores y socios a través del Brokerage Tecnológico de la Enterprise Europe Network de la Unión Europea, visitas técnicas a empresas e instituciones belgas y francesas relevantes en tecnologías de productos del mar, visita a polo de competitividad/clúster europeo en el sector de productos del mar. La importancia en realizar la Misión Tecnológica de prospección en Bélgica y Francia de nuevas tecnologías para agregar valor a productos del mar radica principalmente en que la crisis provocada por la realidad económica mundial ha significado un enorme perjuicio al sector que se espera superar realizando acciones dirigidas de reposicionamiento en el mercado mundial. Igualmente las empresas exportadoras están desarrollando valiosos esfuerzos para agregar valor al producto en especial en desarrollar productos ready to eat oeasy to cook. En este contexto se sitúa la presente misión tecnológica con el fin de dar a conocer a las empresas participantes las herramientas necesarias para generar productos con valor agregado aplicando innovación tecnológica en su producción. Principales resultados cualitativos y cuantitativos que se alcanzarían serán: Prospectar nuevas tecnologías...

7 páginas, 5 figuras.-- El PDF del artículo es su versión post-print.; A detailed search and re-evaluation of the known historical cases of tailings dam failure was carried out. A corpus of 147 cases of worldwide tailings dam disasters, from which 26 located in Europe, was compiled in a database. This contains six sections, including dam location, its physical and constructive characteristics, actual and putative failure cause, sludge hydrodynamics, socio-economical consequences and environmental impacts. Europe ranks in second place in reported accidents (18%), more than one third of them in dams 10–20 m high. In Europe, the most common cause of failure is related to unusual rain, whereas there is a lack of occurrences associated with seismic liquefaction, which is the second cause of tailings dam breakage elsewhere in the world. Moreover, over 90% of incidents occurred in active mines, and only 10% refer to abandoned ponds. The results reached by this preliminary analysis show an urgent need for EU regulations regarding technical standards of tailings disposal; This research has been funded by the European Commission through the project “A regional enterprise network decision-support system for environmental risk and disaster management of large-scale industrial spills”...