Month: December 2013

Cristiano CECHELLA

University of Azores
ccechella2004@yahoo.it

Abstract:
Portugal is a strategic regional location for multinational companies (MNEs) from various countries. This article, through a model based on structural equations (Structural Equations Model), will address the motivations of Brazilian companies to invest in this country compared with firms of other nationalities, which are represented by German companies, Italian, Spanish, American and Japanese. The structural equations allow to infer the safety test results and theoretical constructs. From a theoretical model (known as “structural”) constructed from a measurement model (or measurement) is scanned a set of dependency relations, linking the constructs of the hypothesized model. The structural equation modeling is suggested by Hair Jr. et al. (2006) for three purposes: confirming models, evaluation of competing models and the development of new models. In this study, we opted for the development of models related to the first situation, namely the confirmation of a particular model from a theory of FDI. This article has the following structure: first, it will enter the Portuguese economy from the twentieth century. Soon after, it will analyze the internationalization of the Portuguese economy, particularly foreign investment in Portugal. Thirdly, it will put the analysis model, with its conclusions regarding the differences and similarities in the determinants of investments between Brazilian companies and other nationalities in the decision to settle in Portugal, for example, the influence of linguistic affinity and logistics, respectively.

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Maria Isabel BARREIRO RIBEIRO

Bragança Polytechnic Institute, Bragança
Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, Vila Real
Research Unit for Inland Development, Guarda
Portugal
xilote@ipb.pt

António José GONÇALVES FERNANDES (corresponding author)

Bragança Polytechnic Institute , Bragança
Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, Vila Real
Portugal
toze@ipb.pt

Francisco José Lopes de SOUSA DINIZ

University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real
Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies, Vila Real
Portugal
fdiniz@utad.pt

Corresponding author address:
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança
Escola Superior Agrária
Campus de Santa Apolónia
5300-855 Bragança, Portugal

Tlm. +351 965057246
Tel. +351 273303280
Fax +351 273325405

Abstract

This study looked into the entrepreneurial ability of the students of a public university in Bragança (Portugal) to identify differentiation factors of their entrepreneurial potential. A quantitative, transversal, and observational analysis was conducted involving 598 student participants. Data gathering took place between November and December 2012 and used the Entrepreneurial Potential Indicator questionnaire. The respondents were mostly female (61.0%), between 18 and 21 years old (53.8%), corresponding to an average of 22.6 years of age (±4.59), studied under an ordinary regime (82.6%), were from the northern region (83.9%), lived in an urban centre (53.8%) and attended the first study cycle (92.8%) of two scientific areas, namely Education Sciences (28.4%) and Technology and Management (28.4%). Over half of the respondents showed entrepreneurial skills (72.4%). Of all the human capital factors considered, the attendance regime was the only one which had no influence on the entrepreneurial potential. In fact, all the others, namely the course’s scientific area and the study cycle have proven to be relevant for reinforcing or developing the students’ entrepreneurial skills. None of the socio-demographic factors that were taken into consideration had any influence on entrepreneurial potential differentiation. Binary logistic regression (logit model) revealed a cause and effect relationship between all the characteristics and the entrepreneurial tendency.

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Anne MARGARIAN

Thünen-Institute of Rural Studies, Bundesallee 50. 38116 Braunschweig, Germany
anne.margarian@ti.bund.de

Abstract

For the impartial observer of German regions, differences in regional industry structures and prosperity are quite obvious. On the one side, there are regions characterised by different industries, firm structures and labour qualification profiles. On the other side, some of these regions are prosperous, dynamic and growing in terms of inhabitants, labor force and income while others obviously suffer from high unemployment, low tax base and an unsatisfactory income situation. The analysis presented in this paper relates the regional industry structure to the socio-economic fundamentals that describe the regions’ productivity, its income distribution and its population dynamics. The statistical model is based on the approach of  moderated mediation. It is thereby able to show that the estimated relations are conditional on the degree of regions’ centrality respectively remoteness. Moreover, the analysis distinguishes direct and indirect relations and therefore allows for an identification of the multiple dimensions of the potential effects of local industry structures in cultural, productivity and distributive terms.

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