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This paper aims to understand how the different stakeholders assess the adequacy of smart specialization policies defined for their regions.

This paper has followed a quantitative methodology through the application of questionnaire surveys to stakeholders of the various territorial regions in Portugal.

As a result, from the “resource-based view” approach applied to the various regions, the attained results highlight that the suitability of smart specialization policies defined for the Portuguese regions is not unanimous among its stakeholders.

The research can be used as a tool to assist regional policymakers in strategic reflection when defining and adjusting smart specialization strategies in their territories.

The purpose of this paper is to involve the differences in the entrepreneurial intentions of student at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Portuguese regions (mainland and insular).

Applying a sample of 594 valid responses, the authors analyzed the data according to linear regression models.

The results convey how HEI students generally do not intend to become entrepreneurs in both the mainland and the insular regions. Although HEI students broadly do not aim to launch their own businesses, the results show that students in mainland regions feel they have the skills to start a business and drive it to success. In insular regions, students feel encouraged by their friends and family to set up their own business. When comparing insular and mainland regions, the results demonstrate how in insular regions, there is a greater probability that HEI students become entrepreneurs than in the mainland regions. Furthermore, entrepreneurial intentions in the mainland regions develop in terms of “opportunities” while driven by necessity in the insular regions.

This furthermore makes recommendations to regional governments and to HEIs in order to enable better encouragement of entrepreneurship in academia.

This study is original and innovative due to its comparison of the entrepreneurial intentions prevailing in mainland and insular regions and may propose new highlights to the academic scientific literature.

Regional innovation performance is an important indicator for decision-making regarding the implementation of policies intended for regional development. However, regional development policies have led economies to very different competitive positions in matters of innovation. To address these issues, this paper aims to identify the variables that most contribute to the positioning of economies in terms of performance innovation in Europe.

The data for this study were collected at the regional innovation scoreboard. This paper uses a quantitative methodology through a multivariate statistical technique (discriminant analysis).

The results suggest that specific innovation strategies explain the competitive positioning of economies within each group of countries. It was possible to demonstrate that economies with leader classification show greater comparative robustness in the variables “Small and medium enterprise (SMEs) with product or process innovations,” “SMEs with product or process innovations,” “research and development (R&D) expenditure public sector” and “population with tertiary education,” constituting an effective instrument of innovation policy. Furthermore, it was possible to show that the economies belonging to the modest group do not have a competitive advantage in any of the variables under study, thus providing a reflection opportunity for policymakers at this level.

The present research identifies which variables are most relevant to the classification considering the regional innovation performance in leader, strong, moderate and modest. Several suggestions were given to companies, policymakers and higher education institutions in the sense that the regions where they operate can improve their innovative performance, which may help to a change in their current classification.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles, family psychological vulnerability environment (FPVE) and drug use among adolescents.

The quantitative survey using paper and pencil was administered to collect data from 284 parents registered with a paediatric clinic in the city of São Paulo (Brazil), most of whom claimed that their children used drugs. FPVE was measured by eight scales: family relationship patterns and drug use habits; hereditary predisposition to drug use; transmission of moral values to children (reverse); parents’ hereditary predisposition; parental drug use; depression; impulsiveness; and anxiety.

Dimensions of FPVE that had effect on drug use by adolescents were: the family relationship and drug use patterns of the family of procreation, drug use by the parents and heredity in relation to drug use. Conversely, the family relationship and drug use patterns of the family of origin and the parents’ anxiety, symptoms of depression and impulsiveness did not affect their children’s drug use.

One limit of this study is the sample of parents. These parents were parents of adolescents that were at psychological treatment. The authors do not know if part of parents who declared that their children are not drug users, because the treatment effect. Another limit is that this study did not compare the effect of parents’ drugs misuse with parents that do not use drugs on adolescent drug use. One other limit is that the parents were treated regardless of whether they were mothers or fathers.

This study expands the study of the antecedents of drug use by adolescents, considering FPVE as a construct. Regarding this construct when facing resources limitation, the practitioners can prioritize strategies to prevent adolescent drug use.

This paper aims to highlight the political influences that account for the destination image of a tourist city: Campos do Jordão, São Paulo State, Brazil. The study took into consideration the collective imagination and its influence on the formation of touristic destinations.

Descriptive study based on literature and document review, accompanied by an analysis of texts and photos available on non-official websites – about Campos do Jordão – from November to December 2018 and by visits to selected location.

“Charm”, “refinement” and “sophistication” are the most frequently used words to describe Campos do Jordão, which remains a symbol of exclusiveness and refuge for the highest social classes. These images are shaped by political and economic influences.

The investigation focussed on a single city. Also, as it is an analytical study aimed at showing the permanence of preconceived values used to build the image of a destination it is not possible to talk about extrapolating the present study to other cities. In addition, the research was done by using the reproduction of physical and cultural aspects in addition to the use of European landscapes structures and values in a locality with an exceptional environmental context.

Many of the images connected to Campos do Jordão are replicated by local citizens, a fact that evidences the importance of associative memory, which concerns memories citizens have of their living space. The social implications presented herein seek to recover the formative memories of the assessed city, although it is not the focus of the current study. Assumingly, becoming an active segment of the tourism sector is the only way for local citizens to appropriate the city.

The influence of local government and public actions in tourism construction and in the image linked to the city is used as a case study. Building a touristic imagination demands a wide range of businesses, but this process takes time and effort, as highlighted by the applied documental review; it would not happen without the straight interference of the public sector through the local government.

This study aims to examine the association between the adoption of corporate governance practices and operational performance in companies listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange.

The sample comprises the 80 largest companies in market value present in the Brazil Stocks Index in 2014. Principal component and cluster analyses techniques are used to evaluate performance and capital structure, and a regression model is applied to identify the relationship between key variables.

The findings show that the incidence of a high level of corporate governance in Brazil occurs among smaller companies with less desirable operational performance, rather than the biggest (blue chip) companies. Using a regression model with the return on assets as a dependent variable, a dummy variable for “governance”, and the size of the companies as a control variable, the authors find no association with good practices of corporate governance and operational performance for the companies in the sample.

Newer companies are more likely to exhibit a higher level of corporate governance because of the actions of foreign investors who demand the adoption of stronger corporate governance practices. Although there is demand from wealthy local institutional investors, many older traditional firms could still restructure to achieve higher levels of governance, especially in the case of emerging economies with less mature stock exchanges

This study contributes to the recent debates in the literature by identifying evidence for an association between operational performance and corporate governance rather than a causal relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to address the case of toxic metal contamination of Sepetiba Bay caused by the Ingá Company. The paper reviews the history of the contamination and discusses the current presence of metals in the bay sediments, demonstrating that the toxic metals are clearly enriched. Sepetiba Bay is prone to significant dredging activities that make metals available in the food chain, affecting human populations, mainly fishermen communities.

The study presents the case of the Ingá Company based on international literature and data provided by previous studies.

Through the analysis and compilation of diverse data from the literature, this study demonstrates that the Ingá Company is a major source of Cd, Pb and Zn due to its calamine processing activities used to obtain high purity Zn.

This study highlights important research to complete the historical scenario of heavy metal contamination of the Sepetiba Bay by Ingá Company. The results indicate that the contaminants from the Ingá Company can indeed be traced in the sediments of Sepetiba Bay. These data have the utmost value for the environmental management of this coastal system, because such high concentrations of toxic metals in marine sediments have serious implications for the environmental quality of the bay and may negatively affect biota and human health. Therefore, this study suggests that it is now necessary to monitor this region for contamination continuously.

This paper aims to examine the economic and social factors that influence individual savings in Brazil based on the life cycle hypothesis (LCH).

The authors use data sourced from 2017 to 2018 Household Budget Surveys to analyse the individual savings of Brazilian aged from 18 to 80.

Using a conventional logistic regression model, results of this study suggest that several demographic characteristics, such as education, economic and social factors, influence individual savings in Brazil. For instance, this paper finds a non-linear relationship between age and individual savings, following LCH concepts.

These data provide us with a unique opportunity to investigate the determinants of individual savings in Brazil. In examining this question, this study contributes to the literature by providing new evidence to help the current political debate about the Brazilian social security system. Against this background, social policies should be designed to promote savings, especially in groups with a lower likelihood of savings.

Este artigo examina os fatores econômicos e sociais que influenciam a poupança individual no Brasil, baseado na Hipótese do Ciclo de Vida (LCH).

foram utilizados dados provenientes das Pesquisas de Orçamentos Familiares de 2017–2018, para analisar a poupança individual de brasileiros de 18 a 80 anos.

Com base em um modelo de regressão logística convencional, os resultados sugerem que várias características demográficas como educação, fatores econômicos e sociais influenciam a poupança individual no Brasil. Por exemplo, foi encontrado uma relação não linear entre idade e poupança individual, seguindo os conceitos da Hipótese do Ciclo de Vida (LCH).

Os dados utilizados proporcionam uma oportunidade única de investigar os determinantes da poupança individual no Brasil. Ao examinar essa questão, o presente estudo contribui para a literatura ao fornecer novas evidências para auxiliar o atual debate político sobre o sistema previdenciário brasileiro. Neste contexto, as políticas sociais devem ser desenhadas para promover a poupança, especialmente nos grupos com menor probabilidade de poupança.

Este artículo examina los factores económicos y sociales que influyen en el ahorro individual en Brasil, a partir de la Hipótesis del Ciclo de Vida (HCV).

se utilizaron datos de las Encuestas de Presupuestos Familiares 2017–2018 para analizar el ahorro individual de brasileños con edades entre 18 y 80 años.

Con base en un modelo de regresión logística convencional, los resultados sugieren que varias características demográficas como la educación, los factores económicos y sociales influyen en el ahorro individual en Brasil. Por ejemplo, se encontró una relación no lineal entre la edad y el ahorro individual, siguiendo los conceptos de la Hipótesis del Ciclo de Vida (HCV).

Los datos utilizados brindan una oportunidad única para investigar los determinantes del ahorro individual en Brasil. Al examinar este tema, el presente estudio contribuye a la literatura proporcionando nueva evidencia para apoyar el debate político actual sobre el sistema de pensiones brasileño. En este contexto, las políticas sociales deben diseñarse para promover el ahorro, especialmente en los colectivos con menor probabilidad de ahorro.

Research on cross-modal sensory interactions has shown that visual aspects of food can influence consumer's expectation and perception of taste, mouthfeel and liking. This paper aims to investigate the effects of a rounded (“bouba”) and a squared (“kiki”) shape on expected and perceived sweetness, bitterness, creaminess and liking of chocolates.

Brazilian consumers (N = 230) divided into two groups of 115 individuals each evaluated five chocolates containing 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70% of cocoa. One of the groups evaluated all formulations in the rounded shape and the other in the squared shape. Results were analysed with mixed multivariate analysis of variance (mixed-MANOVA) between shapes, repeated-measures MANOVA between pre- and post-tasting and Pearson's correlation analysis was performed between liking ratings and sweetness, bitterness and creaminess confirmation/disconfirmation.

The study found significant effects (p < 0.05) of shape on expected and perceived creaminess but not on other attributes; of cocoa percentage (30, 40, 50, 60 and 70%) on all four attributes; and time (pre- and post-tasting) on sweetness, bitterness and liking but not creaminess. Finally, it found significant negative correlations between the creaminess difference indices and the liking ratings for the 30, 50 and 60% chocolates.

This study reports that consumers may expect and perceive chocolates as creamier in a rounded shape than in an angular shape and that if the expectation of creaminess is not confirmed by sensory perception, acceptability may be negatively affected.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to understanding of the process of innovation in the biotechnology companies operating in Brazil. The paper identifies the most critical factors in the innovation process of the enterprises in this sector; the paper then analyses the dynamics of the sector and the contribution of the universities and incubators to the innovation process and also evaluates how these elements affect the management process of the technological innovation within and outside the organization.

The research was of the qualitative exploratory type and involved seven case studies of biotechnology companies of different sizes, acting in various sectors, having undergone or not an incubation process. For interpretation of the results, content analysis was utilized.

The study indicated that, among the many obstacles to innovation, access to finance is the most critical. Partnerships have been adversely affected due to institutional and regulatory factors, namely a lack of clear laws and rules regarding intellectual property. The companies have sought to compensate by making their internal processes agile, creating flexible organizational structures and an organizational environment favourable to innovation, which is internalized, as a practice, in a tacit manner.

Limitations are associated with the case study methodology: the results presented pertain to the companies studied, and, therefore, cannot be generalized or extended to other companies or areas.

The management process of innovation occurs in an informal and less than systematic manner. The innovation process in Brazilian biotechnology companies benefits from a pro‐active posture adopted by them to manage and learn from adversity.

The paper increases understanding of the innovation process in Brazilian biotechnology companies.