Portuguese Economic Journal, 2022, Volume 21, nº 3
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- Portuguese Economic Journal, past and futurePublication . Cardoso, José LuísThis article is a contribution to the history of the creation of the PEJ, officially launched in 1999. It bears witness to the context in which research in economics was undertaken in Portugal in the 1990s and the orientations given to S&T policies, which were designed to promote the internationalisation of the academic community. By analysing the successful path followed by the PEJ, the article seeks to discuss some of the challenges that are currently being faced with the development and acceptance of conventional instruments for measuring the quality of scientific journals (Journal Impact Factors), calling for a fresh look at the social and public impact of academic outcomes
- The state of Portuguese research in economics : 20 years afterPublication . Guimarães, Paulo; Barbosa, MarianaIn this paper we look at the state of Portuguese research in economics, with an emphasis on the 2000–2019 period. For this purpose we use three distinct data sets, namely on publications, citations, and the situation of economics researchers in Portuguese universities. Over the last 20 years, the number of publications in international journals that show afliations to Portuguese institutions as well as publications by Portuguese authors with foreign afliations increased considerably. However, after peaking in 2013, the number of publications has since decreased. This may be partly due to the 2010–2014 fnancial crisis that imposed several restrictions on Portuguese universities, but other factors may also have contributed to the decline.
- The dynamics of growth and distribution in a spatially heterogeneous worldPublication . Brito, Paulo B.Distributional extensions of the benchmark AK endogenous growth model and of the Ramsey model are presented in this paper. The resulting geographic growth model - a forward-backward parabolic partial diferential equation (PDE) over a bounded spatial domain - is governed by two main driving forces: a spatial friction in the reallocation of physical capital, and a spatial arbitrage driving the reallocation of savings. The spatial AK model solution, starting from an unequal distribution of capital, displays convergence over time to a spatially homogeneous balanced growth path with positive growth rates. The spatial Ramsey model potentially contains both difusive and agglomerative spatial forces. If there are no agglomerative forces, the solution displays convergence to a spatially homogenous steady state, but if an agglomerative force exists, there is increasing spatial concentration of capital over time. This shows that convergence in the aggregate can be consistent with diferent distribution profles over locations. An additional contribution of the paper is to develop a distributive comparative dynamics analysis for a spatially heterogeneous productivity shock. It is shown that, although there is redistribution of consumption across locations, technological inequality is persistent
- Quality decreases from introducing patient choice in a National Health ServicePublication . Barros, Pedro PitaA view often expressed about patient choice of health care providers is that it will increase competition between providers, which benefits the efficiency of the health system. We address here a patient choice initiative, regarding selection of hospital for specialty consultations, in the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) that has two specific features. The first feature involves shared decision making between patients and GPs, in the choice of hospital for referral, which should be based on publicly available information on “quality”. The second specific feature is that the patient choice initiative did not involve payment changes to NHS hospitals associated with patients’ movements. We show that explaining initial asymmetries in qualities (waiting times) with systematic differences in hospital characteristics (cost advantages and managerial talent) leads to potential asymmetric responses to the introduction of patient choice in the NHS. This implies that the empirical analysis has to accommodate such asymmetries. Explicitly allowing for asymmetries in responses to the policy measure reveals that reactions were indeed different, with top-performance hospitals reducing their qualities (increasing waiting times) after the patient choice initiative was introduced.
- The net product in the Formule du Tableau Economique : lessons from a formalismPublication . Ferreira, Rodolphe Dos Santos; Ege, RagipIt is well known since Phillips (1955) that the Formule du Tableau Economique can be translated into an input–output table. Phillips’s translation is however far from faithful. We propose a more accurate translation that attempts to take seriously all the features of Quesnay’s formalism, by considering in particular its clear, although tacit, distinction between current and capital accounts. This formalism is frst approached as an autonomous object of analysis, and then serves as the basis for discussing the imputation of the net product, by considering successively three candidates to that imputation (other than the productive class): the class of landowners, the sterile class and nature.
- Why do firms use fixed‑term contracts?Publication . Portugal, Pedro; Varejão, JoséIn this article we look at how one specifc form of temporary employment - employment with fxed-term contracts - fts into employers’ hiring policies. We fnd that human capital variables, measured at the levels of the worker and the workplace, are important determinants of the employers’ decisions to hire with temporary contracts and to promote temporary workers to permanent positions. Those employers that hire more with temporary contracts are also those that are more likely to ofer a permanent position to their newlyhired temporary employees. Our results indicate that fxed-term contracts are a mechanism for screening workers for permanent positions.
- The Log of Gravity at 15Publication . Silva, J. M. C. Santos; Tenreyro, SilvanaWe review the contribution of “The Log of Gravity” (Santos Silva and Tenreyro, Rev Econ Stat 88:641–658, 2006), summarize the main results in the ensuing literature, and provide a brief review of the state-of-the-art in the estimation of gravity equations and other constant-elasticity models.