Project List

Following the financial crisis, banking has come into the spotlight for academics, practitioners, policy-makers and particularly taxpayers. The role of banks in sustaining the sound functioning of markets and spurring economic growth is well recognized; however the recent financial crisis shows that there are issues relating to managerial pay in banking that remain unresolved. The study of agency issues in banking is of particular interest. Banks, like manufacturing firms, raise capital from financial markets and pay dividends to their shareholders. In other words, they are subject to market pressure. But in addition to this, they are also subject to regulatory pressure; this can interfere with the sound functioning of financial markets (agency and signalling mechanisms) in raising capital and paying bonuses and dividends. The extent of pressure exerted by regulators and supervisors will determine how soundly financial markets function. In addition to the acute agency issues in banking, the financial crisis (and the subsequent regulation being put into practice) provides a unique natural experiment to study these agency issues. In the former project, “Banking: Globalization, Governance and Regulation” (rated “Excellent” by the FCT panel), the team studied the following issues with respect to governance and managerial pay: (i) the pay-performance relation in banking; (ii) the relation between risk and managerial pay in the banking sector; (iii) the relation between managerial ownership and bank risk, value and performance; (iv) the relation between board diversity (measure of board independence) and bank risk and performance. Following the successful completion of the aforementioned project (our work was published by the Journal of Corporate Finance, Review of Accounting Studies and the Journal of International Money & Finance, among others), the team intends to further contribute to the literature on agency problems in banking, more specifically regarding man...

Adapting to unstable and dynamic environments is a critical challenge for organizations. It requires continuous improvements not only in products and services but also in their overall functioning. Rapid shifting in the context creates a need for individuals and work teams to quickly adapt to new conditions and task demands (e.g. Kozlowski & Bell, 2008). The recognition of this new reality has given rise, in the last decade, to a set of theoretical models and empirical research that seek to explain adaptation (e.g. Rosen et al., 2011). Authors have argued that in order to adapt to unexpected situations, teams need to adjust their cognitive and behavioral processes, and emergent states (e.g., Burke et al., 2006). However, a lack of theoretical and empirical integration among different approaches for studying adaptation has constrained the advancement of this field of research. At the empirical level, there is a lack of experimental research and empirical work on the underpinnings of adaptation as a dynamic process, as well as a lack of longitudinal designs that analyze how team performance and adaptation occurs over time (Baard et al., 2014). Finally, although organizations increasingly rely on multiteam systems (MTS) to accomplish their goals (i.e., “two or more teams that interface directly and interdependently in response to environmental contingencies toward the accomplishment of collective goals”, Mathieu et al., 2001, p. 290), research has not empirically analyzed how teams coordinate their work in order to adapt and perform over time. We propose four interrelated empirical studies, combining research methods and approaches to capture the dynamics of team cognition on team adaptation and performance trajectories. We also investigate team cognition and leadership as two relevant coordinating mechanisms that support team adaptation in multiteam systems. In study 1 we will experimentally manipulate shared mental models (SMM) and team cognitive flexibility in o...

Social dialogue is an essential instrument within the EC to prevent and regulate relations between employers and employees. Within the EC conflicts at organizational level regularly escalate at high costs, and therefore member states offer different third party interventions and mediation services to solve these conflicts. The EC promotes mediation and other forms of non-judicial conflict resolution. However, there is a lack of knowledge about a) the actual functioning of these services; b) the conditions to promote the use of mediation; c) the antecedents of effective mediation interventions. Especially for collective labor conflicts, the structuring of third party support and mediation services in itself are important elements of social dialogue. Partners feel the need to innovate social dialogue. One of the components for innovation is supporting social partners at organizational level, especially when negotiations are stuck, agreements cannot be reached, or rights are not respected, and conflict escalation might occur. Different member states have different traditions in providing such mediation assistance. However, actual knowledge on how this functions and how to further develop lacks. Are the structures adequate, accessible, and acceptable to conflicting parties in collective organizational conflicts? How do the formal structures relate to the use of independent consultants offering facilitation and mediation services? What are limitations to the use of mediation, and how can ‘preventive mediation’ be used to de-escalate in an early stage conflicts within organizations between management and labor? These questions are at the heart of further development of social dialogue in Europe, and this study aims to compare the experiences in different member states, in a search for good practices, inspiring social partners and governments of member states to promote mediation, both as prevention and conflict intervention.

Coordenação do projeto sem financiamento “Entrepreneurship and well-being”, do qual já resultaram 2 teses de mestrado, 1 publicação internacional (under revision in the Journal of Business Venturing), 2 comunicações e 1 poster em congressos científicos internacionais. Este projecto engloba algumas parcerias internacionais nomeadamente com Ute Stephan (King’s College, UK), Christophe Vanroelen (Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgique), and Mark van Veldhoven (Tilburg University, The Netherlands).

The International Monetary System (IMS) is to a large extent based on one leading currency, the US Dollar (USD) and a small number of other currencies with some international importance, e.g. the Euro (EUR) or the British Pound (GBP). International leadership implies that one currency fulfills, to a great extent, the role of unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange. Historically, we can count less than a hand full of leading currencies in the last centuries. The Dutch Guilder preceded the GBP, which in turn has been dethroned by the USD. Remarkably, each currency maintained its leading position for decades or even centuries. For example, the creation of the EUR in 1999 did not contest the USD’s position to date. Moreover, aspiring currencies such as the Chinese Yuan (CNY), the Brazilian Real, the Indian Rupee and others may defy the actual organization of the IMS. Thus, whether the USD can maintain its position in this currency competition critically hinges on the determinants of being the leading currency. Surprisingly, not much economic research has been devoted to address currency competition or even war, and the systematic study of the determinants of a leading currency. -        The central topic of this research proposal is currency competition – the competition that takes place between currencies resulting in a leadership of a currency lasting for a long period. Despite its relevance this topic has been largely neglected in macroeconomic theory. Why so few leading international currencies existed and the long-run determinants of their rise and fall have yet to be explored. The latter will be studied along the concrete short-run example of the design of optimal monetary policy. Our approach is in sharp contrast to the existing literature which emphasizes the benefits of international policy cooperation. We study currency war, a manifestation of currency competition and the unstudied opposite scenario of what has been examined. In sum, we develop...