Abstract
The empirical literature focusing mainly on the USA suggests that class absenteeism undermines students' academic performance and that an enforced mandatory attendance policy may be beneficial. Based on a different cultural and economic context, and using data on 146 second-year management students enrolled in a macroeconomics course at an elite economics school in Portugal, it is shown that even when controlling for potential endogenous factors associated with attendance and academic performance, absenteeism considerably lowers the students' final grade (about 2 points in a 0-20-point grading scheme). In addition, it is established that a compulsory, though flexible, attendance policy contributes to improving students' academic performance.

Abstract
Studies relating ageing and countries' economic performance address mostly developed economies. However, extant studies demonstrate that less developed countries (LDC) and emerging economies (EE) are reaching the transition process faster than those from developed regions, which renders the speed of ageing, besides ageing, a critical variable to explore in this context. Comparing system dynamic panel data estimations for 40 LDC, 19 EE and 28 developed countries (DC), between 1990 and 2013, we uncovered that ageing is detrimental to countries' economic growth, with noticeable nuances depending on countries' development level. The current level of ageing significantly and negatively impacts on DC's growth but not on that of LDC or EE. For these latter groups, the most relevant issue is the speed of ageing. The current annual growth of old age dependency ratio significantly diminishes EE's growth prospects whereas the lagged annual growth of the ageing index and the old age dependency ratio significantly curtails LDC's growth. Such results emphasize the need for urgent public policies that might mitigate the imbalance in LDCs' age structure before the speed of ageing leads LDCs to become even much poorer.

Abstract
Although a myriad of important theoretical and empirical contributions on ageing populations exist, these are diffuse and lack an integrated vision of the distinct mechanisms through which ageing populations affect economic growth. This being the case, in this paper we survey the literature that provides insights regarding the ageing population and its effect on economic growth. In particular, we seek to uncover the main mechanisms by which ageing affects economic growth.

Abstract
There is a generalized lack of clear definitions and estimations as to what represents cultural activities and creative industries. This paper critically reviews the growing corpus of literature on approaches to the measurement of creative industries and presents a detailed mapping of the creative sectors according to relevant industry- based methodologies. Using a unique official database, Quadros de Pessoal/ Matched Employer-Employee Dataset, which includes over 3 million workers, we found that, for Portugal, depending on the approach used, the size of creative industries differs considerably, ranging from 2.5% (DCMS model) to 4.6% (WIPO copyright model). We further propose a distinct industry-based approach focusing on core creative industries. Accordingly, core creative industries represent 3.5% of Portuguese employment, in which ‘software publishing’/‘computer consultancy’ (1.0%), ‘publishing’ (1.0%) and ‘advertising and marketing’ (0.4%) are the most relevant sub-segments. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

Abstract
Academic and political interest in Academic Spin-offs (ASOs) has increased significantly in the last few years. In 2007 the Portuguese government established, jointly with the University of Texas at Austin, the University Technology Enterprise Network (UTEN), a network of professional Technology Transfer Offices focused on the commercialization and internationalization of Portuguese Science and Technology. The present chapter assesses the role of S&T infrastructures and support on the economic performance of a sample of Portuguese ASOs associated to the UTEN. Econometric estimations revealed that certain types of S&T infrastructures (incubators) and support mechanisms (access to skilled labor business mentoring and counselling) were critical for the economic performance of ASOs. In contrast, other contextual factors, namely the characteristics and endowments of host universities and the level of development of regions where the companies located failed to influence their economic performance. Such results highlight the need for continuing and sustainable public investment/efforts aimed at strengthen technology transfer and commercialization process in Portugal.

Abstract
Human capital is identified as one of the main determinants of economic growth and plays an important role in the technological progress of countries. Nevertheless, existing studies have to some extent neglected the importance of human capital in the growth process via the interaction it can have with a country's industrial specialization. Additionally, the emphasis is mainly placed on supply-side determinants, while demand-side factors are neglected, particularly the relevance of the processes of structural change. Thus, using a growth model which integrates variables from both the supply side and demand side, we assess the direct and indirect effects of human capital on economic growth, including in the latter the interaction of human capital with the industrial specialization of countries. Based on dynamic panel data estimations, we found that human capital and the countries' productive specialization dynamics are crucial factors for economic growth. Moreover, the interaction between human capital and structural change in high knowledge-intensive industries impacts significantly on economic growth. However, the sign of this effect depends on the type of country and the period of analysis. Specifically, over a longer time span (1960-2011) and for more highly developed (OECD) countries, the impact of the interaction between human capital and structural change is positive. When we also include transition and Mediterranean countries over a shorter time period (1990-2011), we find that human capital significantly and positively impacts on the countries' economic growth but the effect of human capital via specialization in high-tech and knowledge-intensive activities is negative. The latter result indicates that the lack of industrial structures able to properly integrate highly educated individuals into the productive system leads countries to experience disappointing economic returns.