EEG Investiga

Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
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O "EEG Investiga" é um podcast da Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política da Universidade do Minho, dedicado à divulgação científica produzida na escola. Este programa explora investigações atuais, tendências e desafios, com foco na inovação e impacto social.

  1. 7H AGO

    15. Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance

    Ramos, F., Tavares, A. F., & da Cruz, N. F. (2026). Between promise and practice: a scoping review of the democratic outcomes of youth participation in local governance. Children and Youth Services Review, 181, 108738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108738 This article presents a scoping review of 48 empirical studies on youth participation in local governance across 24 countries, examining the gap between its democratic promise and institutional practice. The literature identifies five main rationales for youth participation: improving public policies, defending rights, fostering civic skills, strengthening democracy, and promoting youth empowerment. Using Nabatchi and Amsler’s framework, the study assesses outcomes at individual, community, and governmental levels. Positive effects are strongest at the individual level, where young participants report increased civic engagement, leadership skills, confidence, and political knowledge. At the community level, youth contribute to expanding civic space and improving access to public services. However, outcomes at the governmental level are more contradictory. While youth input can enrich policymaking, participation is often symbolic, marked by limited deliberation, weak representation, and lack of real decision-making power. The study highlights a “participation–power paradox”: youth engagement succeeds as personal development but rarely reshapes governance structures. Effective participation requires meaningful deliberation, accountability mechanisms, and genuine power-sharing.

    13 min

  2. 3D AGO

    14. Science and productivity in European firms: how do regional innovation modes matter?

    Barbosa, N., & Faria, A. P. (2026). Science and productivity in European firms: how do regional innovation modes matter? European Planning Studies, 34(1), 84–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2025.2570922 This article, published in European Planning Studies (2026) by Natália Barbosa and Ana Paula Faria, investigates how scientific knowledge and regional innovation modes influence firm productivity growth across Europe. Using data from 150,712 manufacturing firms located in 161 NUTS II regions in 19 European countries between 2012 and 2017, the study applies the Capello and Lenzi taxonomy to classify regions into five innovation modes, ranging from science-based to imitative innovation. The findings show that scientific knowledge significantly boosts productivity, particularly in Southern European regions and, to a lesser extent, in Eastern Europe, supporting a science-driven convergence process. However, the effects are heterogeneous: highly productive and fast-growing firms benefit most from scientific spillovers, while less productive firms can still achieve efficiency gains through imitation-based strategies. Applied smart innovation modes also emerge as key drivers of long-term productivity growth. The authors conclude that innovation policy should recognize diverse regional innovation paths and strengthen firms’ internal capabilities to absorb external knowledge.

    6 min

  3. FEB 13

    13. Balancing the double-edged sword of artificial Intelligence: Job demands, resources, and Work–Life balance

    Pinho, J. C., Fontes, A., & Santos, G. G. (2026). Balancing the double-edged sword of artificial Intelligence: Job demands, resources, and Work–Life balance. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 21, 100924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100924 This study applies the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) framework to examine the “double-edged sword” effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on employee well-being. Using survey data from 280 professionals, it shows that AI simultaneously functions as a job resource and a job demand. On the one hand, employee–AI collaboration reduces repetitive work and cognitive load, enabling employees to focus on more meaningful tasks, which increases work engagement and improves work–life balance (WLB). On the other hand, AI awareness—particularly fears of job loss and skill obsolescence—acts as a hindrance demand that lowers engagement and psychological safety. The findings reveal that work engagement mediates the positive relationship between AI collaboration and WLB and is a necessary condition for achieving high WLB. Interestingly, AI awareness positively moderates the collaboration–engagement link, suggesting that close collaboration can transform perceived threats into challenge demands. The study highlights AI as a job redesign opportunity requiring human-centered implementation and transparent communication.

    9 min

  4. FEB 10

    12. Robotic process automation: implementation in a multi-municipal water supply and sanitation company

    Martins, A., Silva, A. P., Gomes, D., & Cruz, D. (2025). Robotic process automation: implementation in a multi-municipal water supply and sanitation company. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-09-2024-0182 This study analyzes the implementation of Project Sophia, a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) initiative at Águas do Norte S.A. (AdN), a Portuguese public water and sanitation utility. The research aims to understand why a public-sector organization adopted RPA and how the process unfolded under the influence of internal and external actors. Launched in 2019, Project Sophia generated 26 subprojects between 2019 and 2024, mainly in administrative and financial areas, with 12 processes successfully automated by March 2024. Adoption was driven by institutional pressures, including coercive demands for regulatory compliance, normative influences from New Public Management principles, and mimetic pressures from successful RPA implementations elsewhere. Implementation followed an institutional work perspective, highlighting the agency of key actors such as the IT director, project manager, and external consultants. Despite challenges related to public procurement rules, budget constraints, system rigidity, and staff turnover, the project delivered significant benefits in efficiency, data accuracy, compliance, and the reallocation of employees toward higher-value analytical tasks.

    10 min

  5. FEB 6

    11. A general framework for retailer competition under elastic demand and quantity-dependent transport costs

    Esteves, R. B., & Carballo-Cruz, F. (2025). A general framework for retailer competition under elastic demand and quantity-dependent transport costs. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104358 This paper develops a general framework for spatial retailer competition by extending the classic Hotelling model to incorporate elastic demand and quantity-dependent transport costs. Unlike traditional models with fixed purchase quantities, consumers here adjust the amount bought in response to prices, while transport costs increase with both distance and quantity. A key innovation is the elasticity parameter that captures how transport costs scale with the purchased quantity, allowing the model to differentiate between bulky and lightweight goods. The analysis shows that standard results on spatial differentiation still hold: greater differentiation relaxes competition and raises prices, while more elastic demand intensifies price competition. However, quantity-dependent transport costs crucially shape market outcomes. When transport costs rise strongly with quantity, as for bulky products, consumers are less willing to travel, reducing competitive pressure and increasing local market power and profits. For lightweight goods, transport costs depend mainly on distance, intensifying competition and lowering prices. The framework offers insights for pricing strategies and highlights potential welfare concerns from localized monopolies.

    11 min

  6. FEB 3

    10. Transparency in local government: exploring the impact of female leadership and political context

    Ribeiro, B. F. G., Rodrigues, M. Â., & Tejedo-Romero, F. (2026). Transparency in local government: exploring the impact of female leadership and political context. Local Government Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2025.2612054 This study examines the relationship between female leadership and municipal transparency in Portugal, focusing on how political context shapes this link across the country’s 308 municipalities. Using data from the Municipal Transparency Index for 2013 and 2017, the authors draw on Social Role Theory and Representative Bureaucracy to assess whether the gender of mayors affects online information disclosure. The findings show that female leadership alone does not significantly increase transparency; in unfavorable political settings, municipalities led by women may even display lower transparency than those led by men. However, this relationship is highly conditional. When female mayors govern with an absolute majority, the negative effect is reversed and becomes positive, highlighting the importance of political stability and institutional support. Left-wing party affiliation also mitigates the negative association, though less robustly. Beyond gender, financial autonomy increases transparency, while higher unemployment reduces it. Overall, the study concludes that gender quotas are insufficient on their own: effective transparency gains require real political power, resources, and supportive institutional contexts for women leaders.

    13 min

  7. JAN 30

    9. The division of revenues from unexpected demand shocks

    Bastos, P., Monteiro, N. P., & Straume, O. R. (2025). The division of revenues from unexpected demand shocks. Scandinavian Journal of Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12589 This article investigates how unexpected export demand shocks affect firm outcomes and the distribution of earnings between firms and workers in the Portuguese private sector from 2006 to 2018. Unexpected shocks are identified using forecast errors in destination-country GDP growth, aggregated at the firm level according to export exposure. The results show that positive demand surprises increase exports, sales, employment, and investment, and part of the resulting revenue gains is shared with workers through higher wages. However, this rent-sharing is highly unequal: wage gains are concentrated among workers at the top of the firm’s wage distribution and arise through both higher base wages and overtime pay. A key contribution is the role of managerial skill. Firms led by highly skilled managers are more likely to distribute gains via bonuses and performance-based pay, driving inequality within firms. Wage responses are stronger where firm-level bargaining exists and for long-tenured workers. Finally, firms react more strongly to negative than positive shocks, reflecting short-run capacity constraints and asymmetric adjustment.

    7 min

  8. JAN 27

    8. Place attachment, national identity, and country-of-origin consumption insights from Portuguese emigrants

    Casais, B., & Boleixa, R. S. (2025). Place attachment, national identity, and country-of-origin consumption: insights from Portuguese emigrants. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 21(4), 357–369. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-025-00400-w This article examines the relationship between place attachment, national identity, and the consumption of country-of-origin (COO) products among Portuguese emigrants. The findings show that Portuguese emigrants display strong place attachment and national identity, often exceeding simple feelings of national pride. Place attachment is understood as a long-term emotional bond that integrates identity and functional dependence on the home country. However, this strong emotional connection translates only weakly to moderately into actual purchasing behavior, revealing a clear attachment–consumption gap. This gap is explained primarily by market constraints rather than by a lack of emotional interest. Key barriers include the limited international availability of Portuguese products, selective distribution channels, and high prices. The study also highlights the role of acculturation: emigrants who have lived abroad longer tend to show lower attachment, as they adapt to host-country products and consumption patterns. Food products, regional specialties, and wine are most demanded, driven by nostalgia and cultural continuity. The authors conclude that effective internationalization strategies must combine emotional appeals with improved logistics, distribution, and place-based storytelling to fully leverage diaspora attachment.

    10 min
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About

O "EEG Investiga" é um podcast da Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política da Universidade do Minho, dedicado à divulgação científica produzida na escola. Este programa explora investigações atuais, tendências e desafios, com foco na inovação e impacto social.

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  • Creator
    Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    103
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
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    EEG Investiga