Marta Ferreira Dias

The market of electrical and electronic equipment waste in Portugal: Analysis of take-back consumers’ decisions:

This paper aims to ascertain the efficacy and acceptability of five incentive schemes for the take-back of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Portugal, focusing in consumers’ perspectives. It assesses users’ perception of these items, evaluating the motivations and interests they have concerning the market of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Results indicate, on one hand, a lack of awareness by consumers about the process of take-back of their equipment. On the other hand, results show that information conditions and socio-demographic factors affect consumers’ motivations for returning the electrical and electronic equipment at the end of life. In this context, it can be concluded that, in Portugal, the market for the recovery of waste electrical and electronic equipment is still in its infancy.

Assessing Entrepreneurial Profiles: A Study of Transversal Competence Gaps in Four European Countries

The need to develop entrepreneurial competences in young professionals has been a key priority in the agendas of policy makers and industry leaders for some time. This chapter offers several contributions to address this issue, drawing on the results of an in-depth study addressing the meaning, and the requirements, for entrepreneurial competences across four European contexts (Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal). Building on the literature as well as on exploratory data from interviews with employers and young graduates, the chapter starts by identifying and characterizing ten transversal entrepreneurial competences that were identified at the forefront of requirements for economic and social development, as determinants for job creation, employability, social emancipation and personal fulfilment in labour contexts. Using this competence framework, a scale for the assessment of entrepreneurial competences has been developed and empirically validated. The chapter then presents the results of the application of the scale in the four countries addressed in the study. This investigation addressed a sample of 449 young professionals and 88 employers, and offers insights on two perspectives: (1) the competence profile of young professionals, from different educational backgrounds, and across distinct European contexts; (2) the entrepreneurial competence requirements reported by the employers of leading industries. These two perspectives are matched in order to infer the importance of the gap between the requirements of employers and the offer from the graduates. The chapter therefore offers a timely contribution for the understanding of the span of psychological and behavioural characteristics, along with management and technical knowledge and skills that need to be at the forefront of education and training, and aligned with societal development goals.

Which are the energy efficiency determinants in Portuguese innovative firms

Since the high importance of eco-innovation for a sustained pursuit of energetic and environmental objectives, we analyze to what extent innovative Portuguese companies are concerned with the inclusion of innovations that improve energy efficiency. We use a panel sample of Portuguese companies and data from Community Innovation Survey for the period 2008–2010 that includes 3296 product and/or processes innovative firms. Using a logit model the determinants of energy efficiency innovations are studied. The results give special highlights to belonging or not to an economic group and the access to public finance as the main determinants. It also seems that organizational innovation comes usually hand by hand with eco-innovation. Consequently, it is highlighted the need to design cross-cutting policies to generate incentives for innovative firms in Portugal, and by sectors, to jointly tackle the challenges associated with energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Market power and integrated regional markets of electricity: a simulation of the MIBEL

We consider a partial equilibrium model where we study the integration of two oligopolistic markets that are not symmetric (in number of ?rms, in demand or market dimension). We present a simulation for the integration of the Iberian wholesale electricity market (MIBEL) and show how the exercise of market power will evolve with regional full integration. The simulation results show that, as expected, market power is lower after full integration. However, even after full integration, market power is still a feature of the market. There fore, the full bene?ts of liberalisation and integration are not seized by the consumers since wholesale prices persist to be higher than marginal costs.

Single European energy Market: progress and some concerns

It is not simple to describe the Single market if there is not one. This paper offers a detailed description and analysis of the competitive and regulatory framework of the European energy market. Since the beginning, electricity markets had an essential role, because it was the starting point for the restructuring and it has been the market who determines the path for all the remaining energy markets, such as gas or carbon storage. Despite the trend being forward increased liberalisation and integration there are several obstacles that made and that are still making the European process a complex and difficult task. We discuss barriers and problems identified, starting from a classification on “old” European concerns and “new” European concerns on electricity markets in order to infer their detrimental effects or to find solutions to avoid them.

Cross-ownership and concentration in MIBEL: Liberalization and integration experience

The liberalization of electricity market in Europe during the 90s and the European aim of integrating energy national markets aimed mainly increase efficiency and decreasing energy prices for consumers. Nevertheless, a wave of mergers and acquisitions reduce the number of independent players in the market and increases the concern about market concentration and his effects on market power. In our research we follow Maxwell et al (1999) and we derive a generalized HHI (GHHI). Our concern is to evaluate the evolution of the degree of concentration in key moments for both Iberian markets separately and after the integration. The question asked in our work is if and to what extent the creation of ownership ties between generation firms can re-establish market power and undo what the liberalization and integration has achieved.