The impact of the Bolsa Escola/Familia conditional cash transfer program on enrollment, dropout rates and grade promotion in Brazil

We examine the impact of Brazil's Bolsa Escola/Familia program on Brazilian children's education outcomes. Bolsa provides cash payments to poor households if their children (ages 6 to 15) are enrolled in school. Using school census data to compare changes in enrollment, dropping out and grade promotion across schools that adopted Bolsa at different times, we estimate that the program has: increased enrollment by about 5.5% (6.5%) in grades 1-4 (grades 5-8); lowered dropout rates by 0.5 (0.4) percentage points in grades 1-4 (grades 5-8); and raised grade promotion rates by 0.9 (0.3) percentage points in grades 1-4 (grades 5-8). About one third of Brazil's children participate in Bolsa, so assuming no spillover effects onto non-participants implies that Bolsa's impacts are three times higher than these estimates. However, simple calculations using enrollment impacts suggest that Bolsa's benefits in terms of increased wages may not exceed its costs.     

US dollar/Euro exchange rate: a monthly econometric model for forecasting

The intent of this paper is the construction of an econometric model able to produce reliable and reasonable forecasts for the US dollar/Euro real exchange rate. In order to achieve this aim, an area-wide model is analysed. The aggregation is motivated by the fact that the Euro-zone is under a single monetary policy. Furthermore, a more parsimonious parametric model enables one to consider an important source of non-stationarity given by the presence of structural breaks using the multivariate cointegration analysis. Against the Meese-Rogoff critique, the out-of-sample one-step-ahead forecasts using actual values of the exogenous produced by the estimated VECM are reasonably satisfactory.     

Chubby cheeks and climate change: childhood obesity as a sustainable development issue

The rise of obesity is one of today's biggest societal challenges. Indeed, the obesity epidemic is not only impairing individuals' lives, but also societies' sustainability, most notably with regard to the social, the cultural and the economic dimension. Thus, to halt obesity has become a goal in several political sustainability strategies. The focus is on children since their health behaviour is expected to have a strong impact on consumers in adulthood. To fight childhood obesity, the challenge is to develop the ‘right’ policy toolbox. One complicating aspect amongst others is the numerousness of actors involved. To find a policy mix and assess its consequences for all actors, it is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms – the impact of external and internal factors on children's health behaviour. Tools such as regulation, information and education appear to be insufficient to curb this unsustainable consumption behaviour. One promising avenue to strike a new path is to exploit the possibilities of choice architecture as proposed by behavioural economics. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to develop the conceptual nexus between obesity and sustainable development against the backcloth of obesity and sustainability research; second, based on a human ecological model, to outline selected influencing factors of childhood obesity; and third, to sketch the options of market and consumer policy actors to curb the pandemic.     

Localized capabilities and the internationalization of manufacturing activities by SMEs

In this paper it is argued that the internationalization of production through foreign direct investment (FDI) by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is influenced by local level idiosyncracies. Although SMEs suffer from inherent constraints to international growth (due to the scarce availability of financial and managerial resources), the presence of qualified localized capabilities strengthen and complement their competitive/ownership advantages, thus favouring their internationalization. These capabilities are related to the advanced specialized services available to the firms, the existence of a ‘marshallian atmosphere’, and an environment conducive to innovation and learning. However, it is argued that negative externalities stemming from protectionism-oriented public intervention discourage the international growth of firms and negatively influence the propensity of SMEs to internationalize. Empirical support for these premises is provided by this study of the Italian case over the decade 1986–1995.     

NAFTA Students’ Whistle-Blowing Perceptions: A Case of Sexual Harassment

Business students from the three NAFTA countries were shown a possible Sexual Harassment scenario from Arthur Andersen’s Business Ethics Program. They were asked to respond to a pre-questionnaire concerning the three characters’ behaviors and possible actions and a post-questionnaire after writing a report from the points of view of the three characters in the scenario. The students were asked to consider whether the characters should report the possible harasser to their supervisor, and thus engage in whistle-blowing behavior, as well as directly confront the harasser. Hypotheses are formulated for the three NAFTA countries based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. There were significant differences, but in some cases not in the direction expected. Gender differences are also explored, but there were few significant differences.     

Globalisation,E-Business and SMEs: Evidence from the Italian District of Prato

The paper explores how SMEs located in industrial districts explore e-business as a means to face the challenges posed by globalisation. By resorting to case studies conducted in the textile district of Prato, the research evidences the positive attitude of the interviewed entrepreneurs towards e-business. However, the characteristics of the considered products (textiles) and the district structure strongly affect the path followed to explore the scenarios opened by e-business. The collected evidence suggests that only few firms in the district are actively pursuing the full range of opportunities provided by e-business, and that isolated actions are not enough to foster collective learning and growth processes involving the whole district.     

Whites,Blacks, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brown</Emphasis> in the Labor Market in Brazil: A Study About Inequalities

This paper examines inequalities between white and black and brown populations in Brazil within occupations that require university degree. The main result confirms that once reached the university degree, blacks/brown usually obtain smaller but comparable income to that of whites. Although some racial discrimination in labor market may exist, such result corroborates other studies that identify schooling differentials as the main reason for the high income inequality found in Brazil.