The Portuguese law on social economy
This study is a reflection on the Portuguese Framework Law on Social Economy, highlighting, from a critical point-of-view, its contribution to the explicit institutional and legal recognition of the social economy sector. It does so by defining the concept of social economy and listing the entities engaged in this sector, by defining its guiding principles and the mechanisms for its promotion and encouragement, and also by describing the creation of a tax and competition regime which will take into account its specificities. The setting up of this foundation of the social economy was based on the constitutional principle of protection of the social and co-operative sector, which substantiates the adoption of differentiating solutions in view of the positive discrimination of this sector.
Antecedents of a new social venture in Portugal: The influence of education and professional background
Abstract The aim of this investigation is to explore the extent to which individuals’ education and professional background influences the launching of a new social ventures (SV) in Portugal. To attain this objective, empirical data were collected through an online survey to social entrepreneurs who have already launched a SV. The sample consists of individuals who were responsible for the creation of a Portuguese NGO or a SV available on the Portuguese Social Stock Exchange. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square goodness-of-fit test) were used, as well as principal components analysis. Our investigation reveals that a higher educational level stimulates the emergence of new SV. Individuals’ professional background (such as prior occupational status, professional satisfaction and entrepreneurial context) also has a positive impact on the decision-making. We also detect that individuals’ past entrepreneurial experiences shape (in an indirect way) how individuals accept the risks of launching a SV.
Complexity, Network-Decisions And Alternative Risk Premia: Some New Theories Of Structural Change And Portfolio Decisions.
Structural Change is the basis for many decisions such as government fiscal and monetary policies, government interventions, corporate-expenditure decisions, corporate strategic decisions, portfolio management decisions in finance; household allocation decisions, etc.. Structural change in industries and national economies is increasingly more difficult to detect partly because of the growth and dominance of Complex Systems and “Networks” in modern industries and economies – such Networks and Complex Systems include GVCs (global value chains), retail store networks; franchising networks; internet networks; services networks; credit-chains in industries; online social networks; etc.. The relationship between Complexity and Structural Change is well established in the physics, applied math and economic dynamics literatures. Traditional definitions and modeling of structural change have erroneously focused on changes in labor, technological progress, market share, and or capital – which are grossly inadequate in the new economy and post- global financial crisis (as confirmed by changes in the global retailing and housing industries and other industries). Also the modeling of structural change seems to be constrained by the availability of data, and often omits the relationship between structural change on one hand, and globalization, financial stability and international financial contagion. This article: i) introduces the Operations Strategy Model of structural change, explains how it differs from the Lewis Model of Structural Change; and explains the often omitted relationship between operations strategy (of companies and government agencies) and structural change; ii) introduces other new Complexity-based models/theories of Structural Change in industries; iii) reviews the relationships among Operations Research, Complexity and Structural Change; iv) explains the symbiotic relationship between structural change on one hand, and economic growth, financial stability, financial contagion and globalization; v) discusses the significant gap between academic research and practice and explains some issues and factors that should be considered in the development and testing of structural change models; vi) explains how alternative risk premia can be generated from new models of Structural Change.