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Research Project
Centre for Public Administration and Public Policies
Funder
Authors
Publications
The contribution of tax expenditure in fiscal consolidation in post-crisis economies: a case study of the context in Portugal
Publication . Catarino, João Ricardo; Salvador, Rui; De Barboza Marques De Moraes E Soares, Ricardo Manuel
In this research, we analyse the use of fiscal expenditure as an instrument of fiscal consolidation policy. Portugal was subject to the financial assistance
programme (PAEF) articulated with the IMF, the European Commission and the
European Central Bank between 2010 and 2014. The objective is to analyse the
evolution of fiscal expenditure in the following four years, after the end of that term
programme, that is, between 2015-2018. The outcome is to know if the policy of
reducing fiscal expenditure implemented in the years in which the programme
was in force (2010-2014), continued into the following four years. We compared
this evolution with the evolution of direct expenditure, based on two main axes:
economic expenditure and social expenditure. The data collection technique is used
through document research, and the data obtained was from information provided
by national, European statistical authorities and secondary sources of information.
It is concluded that, in the 2014-2018 period, the increase in public revenue, due to the decrease in tax expenditure, did not evolve consistently. In 2014-2018,
direct public expenditure did not follow the same pattern as in the previous years
of 2011-2014, given the functional equivalence of the two types of expenditure.
Finally, to observe the relationship between the level of fiscal consolidation, carried out between the years 2010 and 2018, and the behaviour of tax revenue and
expenditure, the Scheffé test was performed on the averages of the variables Total
Revenue and Expenditure, and Tax Revenue and Expenditure. This was applied
in order to observe if the averages of the variables are significantly relevant for the
level of fiscal consolidation or if there are other variables, equally important, that
were not taken into account in the study, but that had a preponderant role (such
as the economic context). We have to statistically conclude that both the revenue
and expenditure averages and the percentage averages are not all equal, as they
are, in fact, all different between the groups analysed.
In order to clarify if the differences in revenue and expenditure and in the respective percentages are statistically significant or if, on the contrary, they are merely
eventual, we previously verified their applicability through the assumptions of
normality and homoscedasticity of each of the data sets, using the ANOVA test
(Fisher, 1918). We observed that for both the amounts of revenue and expenditure,
as well as the percentages, the p-value observed in the ANOVA test was equal to
0.000 (i.e. less than 0.050), implying the rejection of the null hypotheses and the
acceptance of the alternative hypotheses, according to which the average values of
the amounts of revenue and expenditure, and the average values of the percentages
are not all equal. The general conclusion is that there was budget consolidation,
but this must have been due to other factors, such as the economic environment,
since there is no direct relationship between revenue, fiscal expenditure and budget
consolidation in any of the periods studied.
Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernization: Boundary Discourses between “Strong” and “Weak” Approaches
Publication . Dias, Ricardo Cunha; Seixas, Paulo Castro; Lobner, Nadine
The concepts of “sustainable development” and “ecological modernization” are todays’ main discourses of action
on the global environmental crisis. However, the quest of priorities interpretation within concepts is raised: there
is a path dependence of the hegemonic worldview of techno-economic progress that was supposed to be overcome.
The objective of this text is to analyse how this dependence influenced the evolution of such concepts and their
operational proposals. Methodologically, the research is based on a literature review on discourses of these
concepts. A typology of “strong” and “weak” discourses highlights the possibilities of “business as usual” in its
operational interpretation as well as the ways to overcome it. The results show that the confrontation between them
lead to a conceptual evolution of sustainable development and ecological modernization that merges into a
common agenda: the governance of ambivalence between economic and social progress and environmental
frontiers. The text concludes by proposing the existence of a discursive game between “survival” and “tranquillity”.
This highlights an essential tension between environmental mitigation and institutional change that has
accompanied the political agenda in the past 50 years. The resulting reflexive governance as a choice implies a
broad participation in decision-making processes so that environmental trade-offs are collectively discussed, and
responsibilities are shared. Notwithstanding, the article claims that this essential tension further implies
questioning if governance may not also be a new discourse of appeasement and political unaccountability.
Work-Family Interface in the Context of Social Responsibility: A Systematic Literature Review
Publication . Marôco, Ana Lúcia; Nogueira, Fernanda; P. Gonçalves, Sónia; Marques, I. C. P.
The literature on internal social responsibility, in which the work-family interface can be
included, already has a robust tradition in scientific research. It is, therefore, important to systematize
the path that has been taken and what the future may hold. This article aims to systematize the
literature that simultaneously focuses on the work-family relationship and on the context of social
responsibility and sustainability, with the purpose of mapping the research that has been produced
on these intersections. A systematic review of the literature was conducted between the period 1968
and 2021. The search was performed on the SCOPUS database, and the analysis was conducted using
the VOSviewer software, with 333 articles having been identified and subjected to a bibliometric and
content analysis. As a result, 88 articles were analyzed in depth, focusing on the Work and Life Space
dimension and the work-family relationship. The results indicate that corporate social responsibility
has a positive effect on the work-family relationship, where an efficient balance between personal
and professional life is often measured based on the adequacy of the adjustment of factors such as
working hours and social and family commitments.
El futuro de la seguridad social: debate reciente sobre su financiación
Publication . Catarino, João Ricardo; Afonso, José Roberto; França, Deborah Lopes d’Arcanchy
La revolución digital no se limita a aspectos tecnológicos. Es una realidad que va mucho más allá de la destrucción de empleos formales debido al fenómeno de la automatización y al uso generalizado de los robots. Las previsiones no solamente indican que las personas van a tener menos trabajo, sino también que dicho trabajo no necesariamente será ejercido como un empleo. Este escenario dará lugar a un cambio radical de paradigma en el desarrollo de las relaciones laborales con un impacto directo en los niveles de protección de los trabajadores y en el propio modelo de financiación de la denominada seguridad social. En este estudio identificamos y caracterizamos los desafíos para financiar la seguridad, promoviendo una amplia revisión bibliográfica sobre este aspecto. Así pues, abordaremos las dificultades de su sostenibilidad financiera a largo plazo e identificaremos las alternativas preliminares que se vislumbran en esta fase de desarrollo de las sociedades humanas, especialmente en las sociedades occidentales en régimen de mercado abierto y desregulado.
The Contribution of Up-Cycled Food Waste to a Balanced Diet of Low-Income Households
Publication . Nogueira, Anne; Alves, Fátima; Fernandes, Paula Vaz
This paper focuses on the contribution of an upcycling food organization to a balanced diet,
which rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. To determine
the nutritional balance of food hampers provided by our case study organization, according to the
Portuguese food guidelines, we have weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds
over a period of four months. The results suggest that upcycled foods can contribute to a more
balanced diet in terms of “Potato, Cereal and Cereal Products”, “Vegetables”, “Meat, Fish, Seafood
and Eggs” and “Fruits”, both according to the Portuguese Food Wheel and compared to that of the
general Portuguese population. The novelty of this study is the evaluation of the contribution to the
balanced diet of the population in a vulnerable situation, of perishable foods such as freshly cooked,
in traditional restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and hotels, or is naturally fresh (fruit and vegetables food
aid services) up-cycled by a food aid organization.
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Contributors
Funders
Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
6817 - DCRRNI ID
Funding Award Number
UIDP/00713/2020