Abstract
The empirical literature focusing mainly on the USA suggests that class absenteeism undermines students' academic performance and that an enforced mandatory attendance policy may be beneficial. Based on a different cultural and economic context, and using data on 146 second-year management students enrolled in a macroeconomics course at an elite economics school in Portugal, it is shown that even when controlling for potential endogenous factors associated with attendance and academic performance, absenteeism considerably lowers the students' final grade (about 2 points in a 0-20-point grading scheme). In addition, it is established that a compulsory, though flexible, attendance policy contributes to improving students' academic performance.

Abstract
Although a myriad of important theoretical and empirical contributions on ageing populations exist, these are diffuse and lack an integrated vision of the distinct mechanisms through which ageing populations affect economic growth. This being the case, in this paper we survey the literature that provides insights regarding the ageing population and its effect on economic growth. In particular, we seek to uncover the main mechanisms by which ageing affects economic growth.

Abstract
Human capital is identified as one of the main determinants of economic growth and plays an important role in the technological progress of countries. Nevertheless, existing studies have to some extent neglected the importance of human capital in the growth process via the interaction it can have with a country's industrial specialization. Additionally, the emphasis is mainly placed on supply-side determinants, while demand-side factors are neglected, particularly the relevance of the processes of structural change. Thus, using a growth model which integrates variables from both the supply side and demand side, we assess the direct and indirect effects of human capital on economic growth, including in the latter the interaction of human capital with the industrial specialization of countries. Based on dynamic panel data estimations, we found that human capital and the countries' productive specialization dynamics are crucial factors for economic growth. Moreover, the interaction between human capital and structural change in high knowledge-intensive industries impacts significantly on economic growth. However, the sign of this effect depends on the type of country and the period of analysis. Specifically, over a longer time span (1960-2011) and for more highly developed (OECD) countries, the impact of the interaction between human capital and structural change is positive. When we also include transition and Mediterranean countries over a shorter time period (1990-2011), we find that human capital significantly and positively impacts on the countries' economic growth but the effect of human capital via specialization in high-tech and knowledge-intensive activities is negative. The latter result indicates that the lack of industrial structures able to properly integrate highly educated individuals into the productive system leads countries to experience disappointing economic returns.

Abstract
The commercialization of research done by universities and research institutes is seen as a key element of entrepreneurship, justifying a better understanding of the entrepreneurial process within those institutions. Despite efforts in recent decades, there remains a widespread ignorance about who are the individuals with a greater vocation for research and marketing of knowledge. Focusing on a relatively unexplored context - the field of life sciences in a moderate innovator country, Portugal - this study adds new empirical evidence to the precedents of academic entrepreneurship. The results, based on 247 responses, evidence that entrepreneurship (including patent production, consultancy work and creation of start-up companies) is still very incipient. The econometric analysis of the "Index of entrepreneurial activity," shows that: (1) the phenomenon of academic entrepreneurship is within everyone's reach, but embraced by very few; and (2) academic entrepreneurship feeds on the exchange of knowledge and resources among universities and research institutes and their socio-economic environment. Thus, to increase academic entrepreneurship in life science in Portugal, the mechanisms to facilitate the interactions between universities and the business community must be strengthened, promoting the development of business clusters with the integration of the academic world, which will enable the transformation of knowledge into market products and services.

Abstract
Purpose - The present paper adds to the most recent current of literature that highlights the importance of innovation in services, analyzing a setting - Portugal - which is relatively backward in terms of innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a sample of 4128 companies (including 1489 service companies) that answered the Community Innovation Survey 2008, we assessed, by resorting to logistic regressions, the determinants of innovation performance in Portuguese companies. Findings - 1) Workers who have the 1st cycle of higher education have a positive and significant impact on the innovation of service companies whereas PhDs are detrimental to companies' innovative performance; 2) Companies in the service sector in general, and in KIBS in particular, that effectively invest in external and (continuous) internal R&D activities are more innovative; 3) External scientific sources of information for innovation are crucial (and much more than in manufacturing) to the innovation performance of service companies, especially of KIBS; 4) Similarly to manufacturing, participation in innovation activities in cooperation with foreign partners appears as a key factor in the innovative performance of service companies. Originality/value - The study demonstrates the influence of companies' openness and the relative importance attributed to different sources of information for innovation on innovation outcomes of service companies (and KIBS) compared to manufacturing industries.

Abstract
E-commerce notably increases the reach of enterprises, bringing a firm's products and services into the international arena. In times of shrinking domestic markets, due to national crises, becoming available in global markets is essential for survival and growth. We have thus held three focus group interactions to produce a set of strategic recommendations with regards to how to improve e-Commerce adoption levels in Iberian enterprises, essential in times of local hardship and market contraction. Suggestions include creating actions to influence governments to re-evaluate the legislation that regulates e-Commerce, making it more transparent; encouraging venture capitalists, banks and business angels to finance such e-Commerce endeavors; encouraging higher education institutions (HEI) to partner with Iberian enterprises to ensure knowledge transfer in both directions; creating, with HEI and training organizations, a set of new training courses directed at Iberian enterprises and focusing on concepts such as Web 2.0 capabilities and a coherent online organizational identity. Fundamental is the perspective that e-Commerce is a strategic issue, warranting funds and qualified personnel, at different levels in the hierarchy, for adequate strategic e intent, e-vision, and e-mission formulation, followed by effective e-process implementation.