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This paper focuses on the firm‐specific assets, management processes, and organizational strategies displayed by a group of firms based in Latin America, a region that undertook a generalized attempt of economic liberalization during the 1990s. We analyze the operational and organizational strategies of 40 local firms with rapidly expanding international operations within the region – defined as “multilatinas” – and contrast them with those of 58 U.S. and European multinational corporations also operating in Latin America. By comparing these two sets of firms – emerging and experienced – in the same context and over the same time period, we can test for the universality of models of organizational change that are based largely on the latter. We show that multilatinas enjoy less firm‐specific assets and make less extensive use of sophisticated management processes than their foreign counterparts. We also see, however, many of these emerging multinationals evolving by adopting more complex coordination and control mechanisms as they face a more integrated and global environment.

This paper aims to study the determinants of variable compensation for top Portuguese executives (chief executive officers, chief financial officers and commercial directors).

Data from 101 firms were collected through an email questionnaire sent to the human resource directors of 500 largest and best Portuguese firms of Exame, a business newspaper. A Tobit regression analysis was used to estimate the basic equation of the study.

The conclusions are generally consistent with findings obtained in more developed capital markets. It was found that public and older corporations are more intensive users of variable pay, consistent with the agency theory prediction. A location in the centre of economic activity and a higher executive education increase the propensity to receive higher levels of salary in the form of variable compensation. The relation between compensation and performance was more elusive.

There are limitations as to the extrapolation of the obtained results, as the level of potential idiosyncrasy cannot be measured. Ideally, the study should be replicated in different contexts to control for country-specific influences. Nevertheless, the main finding that performance-related pay mechanisms are less used in countries where public corporations and potential agency problems are less pervasive should hold.

As the focus is on a small economy with a developing capital market, this paper contributes to executive compensation literature that has mostly analysed firms based in well-developed capital markets, with a higher separation of ownership and control (Anglo-Saxon countries).

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between entry mode and human resource management in the context of small, emerging, multinationals.

This study surveyed international personnel from Portuguese firms actively present in the Spanish market through different modes, ranging from exporting to direct investment. Usable data on 208 relevant employees from 28 firms was obtained.

Firms selecting weak entry modes tended to prefer country‐specific competences, such as knowledge of foreign languages and capacity to adapt, as well as younger personnel. By contrast, preference for stronger entry modes was significantly related to firm‐specific knowledge and higher management skills.

Successful expansion into foreign markets depends on the crucial role played by human resources. This study underscores the importance of hiring and training competent international personnel whose skills fit the selected entry modes. This may be even more important for firms that are younger, smaller and less experienced with foreign markets.

This study extends previous knowledge of the relationship between human resource requirements and the entry modes used by multinational enterprises (MNEs) when they enter foreign markets.

The capital structure decision can be considered a difficult problem for academics as well as for managers. Corporate debt policy has been studied in the context of both large and small firms in developed countries, but comparatively less developed countries have received much less attention in the literature. This is particularly true in the case of medium income economies with an above average weight of financial intermediaries. This paper tests the factors affecting the capital structure decision of small firms in one such country. The pooled time series cross‐section regression estimates for 995 firms and four years, suggests variables such as taxes, bankruptcy costs, size, collateral, age and growth opportunities affect the capital structure decisions of small firms. These findings have significant implications, both at the firm level and for the support of policies that redefine the financial infrastructure that may foster the emergence of local entrepreneurs in these economies.

In 2014, the city of São Paulo began to implement the public policy “WiFi Livre SP.” This policy created the infrastructure for a WiFi network providing unrestricted internet connectivity in a 120 public squares, distributed in 5 geographical regions of the city (center, south, north, east, and west). In order to monitor the effectiveness of this public policy, a series of surveys were administered to users. The survey ascertained their views about the quality and frequency of the signal in the public squares.

To carry out analysis of this service a survey was used. The researchers camped out in the squares and flagged people down asking whether they could participate in the survey. Data was collected between August and October 2015, using an application for tablets developed by the research team.

The data showed that the networks functioned effectively and provided good service to the users. Another positive factor is the good signal evaluation in the public squares, since it was an initial concern of the project makers. Further, access to these networks made it possible for residents to use several platforms to communicate in an intensive fashion.

The findings show that a connectivity policy should be geared toward promoting the right of all citizens to access the internet regardless of their ability to pay. Free and full access without any sacrifices of privacy should be guiding principles in policy implementation.

Avant d'aborder Le thème choisi, nous pensons qu'il serait opportun de faire quelques brèves considérations d'ordre général sur le Tourisme, en commençant par sa définition, rarement formulée en termes précis.

This chapter analyzes a specific form of contemporary art, the one that is created and exhibited in the community, conceived and visualized outside of the art market and independent of the agenda of creative industries and art galleries. The motivation, purpose and meaning of such art practices, for both the artists and the community, are discussed and examples of community art projects are analyzed in order to understand how art became, in this first quarter of the twenty-first century, such a valued collective asset, so accessible and present in the daily life of the common man. Two Portuguese case studies have been chosen as illustrations: the first one is a funding programme of projects focussed on artistic practices for inclusion (the PARTIS programme, by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation) and the second is a self-financed and self-curated artistic collective, Pescada n^º 5.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the information spillover of sovereign rating changes on the market valuation of bank stocks in Africa.

First, the authors apply event study methodology to evaluate the stock market reaction of African bank stocks on the announcement of sovereign rating changes. Second, the cross sections of the abnormal returns are examined by multivariate regression analyses. Third, the findings are proved for robustness.

The authors investigate how 37 African banks react to 203 African sovereign rating announcements from the three leading credit rating agencies over the period 2010-2016 and find that negative announcements trigger the significant positive stock reactions of African banks, especially contributed by banks in the non-reviewed African countries. These unusual reactions can be explained by the low integration and the severe information asymmetry of African capital markets. The authors further locate the influencing factors of banks’ reactions and show that rating downgrades magnify the abnormal effects while the membership of the African Free Trade Zone mildens the stock market reactions.

Limitations are given by the limited sample size. There are only limited numbers of publicly listed African banks with sufficient trading data.

The paper argues for a critical dependency of African bank equity valuation in the case of sovereign debt rating changes in neighbor countries. This observation is important for the risk assessment of African banking assets.

The paper is the first to examine stock market reactions on sovereign rating announcements for the evaluation of capital market integration in Africa. It thereby underlines the usefulness of this simply to apply approach as an instrument for ongoing examining the progress in capital market development in emerging countries.

This paper aims to show which factors influence the perception of human resources professionals about managers over 50 years old and which factors guide the age management practices adopted in the surveyed companies.

To this end, a survey was conducted with 140 companies accessed from a database of a human resources association. Through the answers obtained through the online questionnaire, an exploratory factor analysis was made with the aid of Software R.

Thus, it was possible to identify four factors that explain the work posture of professionals 50 years of age and older (company expectations, performance, morality and knowledge and professionalism) and three factors that guide the adoption of age management practices in organizations (recruitment & selection and integration, retention and continuity in the company, adaptation to the needs).

The results suggest that, even considering the high performance of older managers, perceived by HR professionals, the adoption of age management practices is still insufficient, making it difficult for these professionals to enter and remain in organizations. Moreover, it can be inferred that such posture indicates biases of discrimination and age stereotypes.