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Publicações

2017

Determinants of the capital structure of Portuguese firms with investments in Angola

Autores
Mota, JHF; Moreira, AC;

Publicação
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

Abstract
Background: This article seeks to complement the previous literature and clarify the particularities of the capital structure policy of firms with foreign direct investment in Angola. Aim: This article seeks to identify the determinants of the capital structure of Portuguese firms with direct investment in Angola and to understand whether the determinants normally considered by standard finance theory are in line with those used by firms when structuring their capital structure policy to participate in the specific market of Angola. Setting: This article examines 26 large Portuguese firms with investments in Angola using econometric panel data for the period 2006-2010. Methods: The study applied fixed and random effects methods and panel-corrected standard errors that maintain efficiency and unbiased behaviour even in the presence of panel-level heteroscedasticity and contemporaneous correlation of observations among panels. Results: The results provide evidence that the determinants normally considered by standard finance theory are in fact - in terms of sign and coefficient dimension - those used by firms for structuring their capital structure policy when involved in the internationalisation process of entering Angola. Specifically, age, asset structure, return on assets and tangibility have a positive influence on the capital structure of Portuguese firms that have invested in Angola, while non-debt tax shields and liquidity have a negative influence on these companies' leverage ratios. When comparing our results with studies that have analysed the capital structure determinants of listed Portuguese firms - firms belonging to the PSI 20 Index and large firms in the Portuguese corporate sector - we found similarities in the sign and coefficient dimension of the determinants of capital structure. However, the profitability coefficient sign is in line with the trade-off framework (i.e. profitability is positively related to debt) but not with pecking order theory (i.e. profitability is negatively related to debt). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the high-growth Angolan market is seen by larger Portuguese firms as a low-risk diversification process because of the economic hardship Portugal has gone through, as well as cultural and linguistic similarities to Portugal. As such, the Angolan market is seen as an extension of the Portuguese domestic market that has increased potential. This scenario potentially reduces the firm default probability and the cost of debt. Maintaining the tax shield benefits of debt and decreasing the cost of debt - through a reduction in the default probability - have induced profitable firms to use more debt.

2017

Doppler Broadening effects in Plasmonic Quantum Dots

Autores
Alves, RA; Silva, NA; Costa, JC; Gomes, M; Guerreiro, A;

Publicação
THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APPLICATIONS OF OPTICS AND PHOTONICS

Abstract
In this paper we analyse the effects of the Doppler shift on the optical response of a nanoplasmonic system. Through the development of a simplified model based on the Hydrodynamic Drude model we analyse the response of a quantum dot embed in a moving fluid, predicting the Doppler broadening and the shift of the spectral line.

2017

Locating Energy Hotspots in Source Code

Autores
Pereira, R;

Publicação
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2017 IEEE/ACM 39TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING COMPANION (ICSE-C 2017)

Abstract
This paper briefly presents a new approach for helping developers identify energy hot spots in their applications. Using tests cases, and statistical methods based on Spectrum-based Fault Localization, high energy consumption is related to the system's source code and a ranking of possible energy leaks are pointed. This technique is both language independent, and context level independent. Initial studies have also shown that using this technique helped developers identify and optimize energy problems in half the time while improving the energy efficiency by 18%.

2017

Ordinal Class Imbalance with Ranking

Autores
Cruz, R; Fernandes, K; Costa, JFP; Ortiz, MP; Cardoso, JS;

Publicação
PATTERN RECOGNITION AND IMAGE ANALYSIS (IBPRIA 2017)

Abstract
Classification datasets, which feature a skewed class distribution, are said to be class imbalance. Traditional methods favor the larger classes. We propose pairwise ranking as a method for imbalance classification so that learning compares pairs of observations from each class, and therefore both contribute equally to the decision boundary. In previous work, we suggested treating the binary classification as a ranking problem, followed by a threshold mapping to convert back the ranking score to the original classes. In this work, the method is extended to multi-class ordinal classification, and a new mapping threshold is proposed. Results are compared with traditional and ordinal SVMs, and ranking obtains competitive results.

2017

A Complementary LC-tank Based IR-UWB Pulse Generator for BPSK Modulation

Autores
Kianpour, I; Hussain, B; Tavares, VG;

Publicação
2017 IEEE EAST-WEST DESIGN & TEST SYMPOSIUM (EWDTS)

Abstract
This paper presents a low-power binary phase shift keying (BPSK) pulse generator for ultra-wide-band transmitters. The circuit has been designed based on LC-tank resonators using 0.13 um CMOS technology. Simulation shows -10dB bandwidth of around 3 GHz and power consumption of 2 mW at 100 MHz PRF. Peak-peak amplitude voltage for both symbols '1' and '0' are approximately as large as 1.2V supply voltage and can radiate enough energy to satisfy the FCC mask only by one pulse. Thus, the energy consumption is 20 pJ/pulse/bit. Pulse duration is 1.5 ns and the transmitter can reach data rates of 660 Mbps

2017

The Challenging Dynamics of Nascent Entrepreneurship

Autores
Alexandra França; Alexandra Vilares; Silja Frankenbach; Vanda Vereb; António C. Moreira;

Publicação
Advances in business strategy and competitive advantage book series

Abstract
Nascent entrepreneurship has long been studied from a variety of perspectives. A major stream of work by psychologists and sociologists suggests that nascent entrepreneurs have distinctive traits and competences. A second focus for research has been studying the environment in which nascent entrepreneurs operates. Recently, the identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities has emerged as a third focus. In this paper we will address the following questions: (1) what are the individual characteristics of those individuals who are attracted to becoming an entrepreneur? (2) What are the environmental factors contributing to new venture creation? (3) What are the steps in the creation process? We will attempt to answer these three questions by arguing that the central process of nascent entrepreneurship is centred on opportunity recognition, evaluation and exploitation, and influenced by contextual factors (e.g. external knowledge) and personal characteristics and competences (e.g. internal knowledge).

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