We explore in this chapter questions of existence and uniqueness for solutions to stochastic differential equations and offer a study of their properties. This endeavor is really a study of diffusion processes. Loosely speaking, the term diffusion is attributed to a Markov process which has continuous sample paths and can be characterized in terms of its infinitesimal generator.

Stochastic Differential Equations

Examines the motivation for achievement as a psychological factor that shapes economic development. Refuting arguments based on race, climate, or population growth, the book instead argues for cultural customs and motivations - especially the motivation for achievement - as the major catalysts of economic growth. Considering the Protestant Reformation, the rise of capitalism, parents' influences on sons, and folklore and children's stories as shaping cultural motivations for achievement, the book hypothesizes that a high level of achievement motivation precedes economic growth. This is supported through qualitative analysis of the achievement motive, as well as of other psychological factors - including entrepreneurial behavior and characteristics, and available sources of achievement in past and present highly achieving societies. It is the achievement motive - and not merely the profit motive or the desire for material gain - that has advanced societies economically. Consequently, individuals are not merely products of their environment, as many social scientists have asserted, but also creators of the environment, as they manipulate it in various ways in the search for achievement. Finally, a plan is hypothesized to accelerate economic growth in developing countries, by encouraging and supplementing their achievement motives through mobilizing the greater achievement resources of developed countries. The conclusion is not just that motivations shape economic progress, but that current influences on future people's motivations and values will determine economic growth in the long run. Thus, it is most beneficial for a society to concentrate its resources on creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and a strong ideological base for achievement. (CJC)

The Achieving Society

As landscapes change continuously in a more or less chaotic way, the concept of sustainable landscapes could be viewed as a utopian goal. New landscapes emerge with changing life-styles. Decision making for landscape planning, conservation and management use the concept of sustainability widely. To make it operational, many new associated and more specific concepts have been proposed such as natural and social capital, conservation economy and quality of life capital. Most of these are inspired by economic thinking and rarely refer directly to the landscape. This article reviews the background and meaning of these concepts and shows that landscape is not seen here as an integrating, holistic concept. As landscape changes, also its meaning and significance changes and consequently its management.

Sustainable landscapes: contradiction, fiction or utopia?

Terence Mills' best-selling graduate textbook provides detailed coverage of research techniques and findings relating to the empirical analysis of financial markets. In its previous editions it has become required reading for many graduate courses on the econometrics of financial modelling. This third edition, co-authored with Raphael Markellos, contains a wealth of material reflecting the developments of the last decade. Particular attention is paid to the wide range of nonlinear models that are used to analyse financial data observed at high frequencies and to the long memory characteristics found in financial time series. The central material on unit root processes and the modelling of trends and structural breaks has been substantially expanded into a chapter of its own. There is also an extended discussion of the treatment of volatility, accompanied by a new chapter on nonlinearity and its testing.

7. The Econometric Modelling of Financial Time Series

Corine Land Cover

Throughout history, times of crisis have always been preceded by periods of change. In fact, the current moment of health, economic, and social crisis that we are experiencing seems to be no exception. Tourism seems to be one of the most affected activities by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis—due not only the cancelled flights but also to the fear of being infected with the virus. In this sense, the present article intends to identify the Azores Archipelago residents’ tourism expectations during the COVID-19 crisis. Using the Azores Islands as a case study and merging it with the authors’ knowledge about this regional reality, it was possible to collect a substantial quantity of data. Thus, this study provides an in-depth perception of the main issues about how this pandemic crisis affects the tourism expectations of the Azores region residents, and consequently, how this situation will influence regional sustainable development. Through the study, it was possible to verify that the significant part of the Azores Archipelago residents (57.5%) will not be going to travel to spend vacations in 2020. Additionally, 84.2% will have holidays in the region; therefore, they stay in the Azores Archipelago. Besides, this study shows that majority of the respondents (61.6%) would not make a reservation for a 2020 vacation.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7612/pdf

The Impacts of COVID-19 Crisis over the Tourism Expectations of the Azores Archipelago Residents

To increase efficiency of the European finance market, the European Union (EU) recently forced all public companies to publish their financial disclosures with the support of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), emanated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), beginning January 1, 2005. In this paper, we measure the impact of the application of IFRS to financial information of Portuguese public companies belonging to the Eurolist by Euronext Lisbon. The results show that the Balance Sheet and Income Statement structures of the firms studied suffered relevant accounting conversions in the process of compliance. Nevertheless, we did not find a clear pattern for the accounting variations. IFRS implementation conditioned the measure made to the performance and the financial position of the business companies in Portugal.

https://www.ceeapla.uac.pt/uploads/pms/attachments/Paper02-2007.pdf

Measuring the Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Firm Reporting: The Case of Portugal

The present paper investigates the optimal timing of investment for a high speed rail (HSR) project, in an uncertain environment, using a real options analysis (ROA) framework. It develops a continuous time framework with stochastic demand that allows for the determination of the optimal timing of investment and the value of the option to defer in the overall valuation of the project. The modelling approach used is based on the differential utility provided to railway users by the HSR service.

/pdf/high-speed-rail-transport-valuation-1q1veq75f2.pdf

High Speed Rail Transport Valuation

In this paper, the optimal timing for investing in high speed rail projects under uncertainty in relation to the utility provided to railway users was investigated. To accomplish this, a continuous time real options analysis framework using a stochastic demand model was developed to determine the optimal time to invest. The value of the option to defer and the investment opportunity value were also assessed.

/pdf/high-speed-rail-transport-valuation-38jpqo1g6n.pdf


 There is a close relationship between sustainable tourism, cultural management, and the achievement of the desired sustainable development and growth. These issues seem to be particularly relevant in rural and ultra-peripheral areas, as in the case of the insular territories. Therefore studies that cross these fields using interdisciplinary analysis are pivotal to allow us to understand the patterns, dynamics, and variables that should be considered in the design of a sustainable territorial planning and manage-ment strategy. Contextually, the present study has been conducted based on the analysis of the existent thematic literature along with cross-referencing of collected and selected data for the Azores archipel-ago. In this regard, the present study enables involved actors, decision-makers, and policy-makers to better understand how sustainable tourism and cultural management principles should be addressed in the pursuit of long-term territorial sustainability.



Principles of Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Management in Rural and Ultra-peripheral Territories: Extracting Guidelines for Application in the Azores Archipelago

Gualter Couto

Papers

The Impacts of COVID-19 Crisis over the Tourism Expectations of the Azores Archipelago Residents

Measuring the Impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Firm Reporting: The Case of Portugal

High Speed Rail Transport Valuation

High Speed Rail Transport Valuation

Principles of Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Management in Rural and Ultra-peripheral Territories: Extracting Guidelines for Application in the Azores Archipelago