Wednesday, 05/08/2026   

Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt

Tuesday, 28/07/2026   

Only 6 per cent of business schools (worldwide) hold AACSB accreditation, which is awarded for excellence in teaching, research and links with business and society

The School of Economics, Management and Political Science (EEG) at the University of Minho has been awarded international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), one of the most prestigious accreditations in the field. The School now joins the ranks of fewer than 6 per cent of management education institutions worldwide to hold this accreditation, which confirms the quality of its teaching, research and engagement with society, thereby strengthening its international standing and opportunities for academic and business collaboration.

Founded in 1916, the AACSB is the longest-standing accreditation body for management education and the world’s largest network in this field. For students and graduates, this accreditation attests that the EEG meets demanding criteria for excellence and is committed to continuous improvement. Membership of the AACSB network strengthens the School’s global profile and may facilitate new strategic partnerships, research projects and the recruitment of high-calibre students and staff.

“We celebrate this milestone with pride. It is the result of a long process of transformation involving our entire community and confirms that we meet the highest international standards of quality, rigour, ambition and impact across the various areas of our mission,” says EEG’s president, Luís Aguiar-Conraria.

For AACSB’s executive vice-president and chief accreditation officer, Stephanie M. Bryant, this accreditation distinguishes institutions committed to excellence in teaching, research, curriculum development and learning. She congratulated UMinho and all the leaders, lecturers, researchers, students, support staff and employees who contributed to this achievement.

AACSB accreditation is the result of an international peer review, which assesses whether institutions have the necessary resources, qualifications and commitment to provide top-quality education, analysing criteria such as institutional strategy, the quality of the teaching staff, teaching, research, pedagogical innovation, impact on society and continuous improvement.

Founded in 1982, the EEG is situated on the Gualtar campus (Braga) and offers three dual bachelor’s degree programmes – a first in the public education system – as well as eight bachelor’s degrees, three dual bachelor’s degrees, 15 master’s degrees and five doctoral programmes. It comprises three departments (Political Science, Economics, Management) and three research centres (CICP, NIPE, iBMS). In its engagement with the socio-economic sector, it is active in applied research, specialist consultancy and executive education, through UMinhoExec.

AACSB Press Release

Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt

Monday, 27/07/2026   

The School of Economics, Management and Political Science at the University of Minho (EEG) is proud to announce that Cátia Cerqueira, a PhD student in Economics, defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Technology Adoption, Labour Market Institutions, and Firm Capabilities” on 27 July 2026.

In the author’s own words:

"This thesis examines how firm capabilities and labour market institutions shape the adoption of digital and automation technologies, and how these adoption decisions affect firm performance and worker outcomes. Understanding both the determinants and consequences of technology adoption is essential for analysing productivity dynamics, structural transformation, and distributional effects. The analysis draws on a linked employer-employee database of Portuguese firms, combining the survey on the use of information and communication technologies in enterprises (IUTICE), international trade records (CI), the integrated accounts system of enterprises (SCIE), and personnel records (QP).

The first chapter investigates the timing and consequences of adopting cloud computing and big data technologies, distinguishing between first movers, followers, and non-adopters. Firms with more educated managers and workers, and managers with shorter tenure, adopt earlier, particularly in the case of big data. Adoption is associated with improved firm performance, and the benefits of big data are amplified by stronger human capital. For big data, early adopters retain persistent productivity and value-added advantages over followers, highlighting that technological complexity determines the role of timing and internal capabilities in shaping performance effects.

The second chapter analyses the impact of Portugal's 2009 compulsory schooling reform on firms' adjustment towards automation, which raised the school-leaving age from 15 to 18 (or to the completion of 12 years of education) and restricted firms' access to underage workers. Using linked employer-employee and trade data, we compare post-reform changes between manufacturing firms with greater and lower pre-reform exposure to underage labour. More exposed firms experienced a decline in underage employment and adjusted primarily through changes in workforce composition, with increases in complementary ICT employment and some evidence of occupational reallocation towards automation-related tasks. However, the increase in the probability of hiring ICT workers does not appear to be reform-specific, as placebo tests also produce positive and statistically significant estimates. Overall, the findings suggest heterogeneous firm responses to a labour supply shock, primarily concentrated in labour reallocation and occupational restructuring rather than in capital deepening or automation via robot imports.

The third chapter examines whether statutory minimum wage increases influence robot adoption and the consequent effects of automation on firm and worker outcomes. Firms exposed to larger wage increases are more likely to adopt industrial robots, with effects materialising with a lag of three to five years. Robot adoption is associated with expansion in firm scale, including value added and employment, although these trajectories are partly driven by positive selection, as high-performing firms are more likely to adopt. These firm-level patterns motivate our empirical strategy, which focuses on differences in outcomes among workers within the same firm. Workers on fixed-term contracts in tasks more exposed to automation face higher separation rates, while permanent workers are reassigned internally. Workers in more automatable tasks employed in robot-adopting firms experience a relative wage penalty compared with less-exposed workers.

Overall, the thesis shows that technology adoption is shaped by the interaction between firm capabilities and labour market institutions. Managerial quality and workforce skills determine firms' capacity to adopt complex digital technologies, while institutional changes in labour supply and costs influence incentives for automation and workers' labour market outcomes. From a policy perspective, education, wage, and innovation policies should be considered jointly, with complementary measures to promote skill formation, support worker mobility, and ensure productivity gains from digitalisation and automation are broadly shared."

The doctoral thesis was supervised by Miguel Portela, Professor in the Department of Economics at the School of Economics, Management and Political Science, University of Minho.

The EEG congratulates Cátia Cerqueira on her defence and wishes her every success in her professional and personal life!

Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt

Sunday, 26/07/2026   

The School of Economics, Management and Political Science (EEG) at the University of Minho welcomed 25 secondary school pupils as part of the ‘Summer on Campus 2026’ initiative, offering them a week to discover academic life and the School’s various academic disciplines.

The participants, who came from various schools in the region and from different parts of the country, were in Years 10, 11 and 12. Throughout the week, they had the opportunity to gain an in-depth insight into the School’s academic programmes, projects and dynamics, engaging directly with lecturers, researchers, students and staff.
The programme included presentations by the School’s three departments – Economics, Management and Political Science – enabling participants to explore the different fields of study and understand the academic and professional opportunities associated with each.

The students also learnt about the support services available to assist them on their future academic journey, notably the Careers Office and the International Mobility Office, which outlined the opportunities for professional development and international experiences available to future EEG students.

Throughout the week, participants engaged with the School’s three research centres, gaining an insight into the research being carried out in the fields of economics, management and political science.

The programme also included various practical activities and opportunities to engage with the business and voluntary sectors. These included a visit to the Casais Group’s premises; a session led by lecturers from the Marketing department on the theme ‘Ideas, Strategy and Action’; a European Union simulation organised by CECRI – Centre for Studies in International Relations – as well as a presentation of LiftOff, a project run by the University of Minho’s Academic Association focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.

The EEG’s student societies also played an active role in welcoming participants, showcasing the academic experience, student life and the many opportunities for extracurricular involvement available at the School.
EEG’s participation in ‘Summer on Campus’ thus once again provided an opportunity to engage closely with higher education, enabling young people to explore different fields of knowledge, connect with the academic community and make a more informed choice regarding their future university path.

Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt

Wednesday, 15/07/2026   

The School of Economics, Management and Political Science at the University of Minho (EEG) is proud to announce that Ana Sofia Moreira, a student on the PhD in Management programme, presented her doctoral thesis entitled “Value-Based Hospital Payment: Integrating Measurement, Organisational Capabilities and Payment Design” on 14 July 2026.

In the author’s own words:

"Healthcare systems face increasing pressure to improve health outcomes while ensuring efficient resource use. In this context, Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) has emerged as a reform paradigm aimed at aligning healthcare delivery with outcomes that matter to patients. However, its operationalization within hospital financing faces significant conceptual, organizational, and methodological challenges.

This thesis examines how hospital payment models can align financial incentives with a multidimensional conception of value. Adopting a multimethod approach, the research is structured around five components: synthesis of the evidence on VBHC through na umbrella review and a scoping review on the role of health information systems in its operationalization; development of a multidimensional value measurement framework based on multi-criteria decision analysis; conceptual development of an organizational capability maturity model; and expert validation of a decision-support framework for the design and implementation of value-based hospital payment models.

The findings show that VBHC initiatives can improve quality of care, efficiency, and patient satisfaction while reducing costs, although implementation remains constrained by fragmented value metrics, organizational resistance, and limitations in cost measurement. The evidence highlights data quality, analytical capacity, and specialized resources as critical enabling conditions. The value measurement framework enables multidimensional performance assessment, integrates stakeholder perspectives, and supports monitoring through a structured dashboard. The capability maturity model identifies gaps in organizational readiness across five levels. Expert validation supports the applicability of a six-phase framework to guide the design and implementation of value-based payment models. Overall, the thesis proposes na integrated architecture linking value measurement, organizational capabilities, and payment system design, supporting the transition from volume-based to value-based payment models."

The doctoral thesis was supervised by José Crispim, Professor in the Department of Management at the School of Economics, Management and Political Science, University of Minho.

The EEG congratulates Ana Sofia Moreira on her defence and wishes her every success in her professional and personal life!

Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia, Gestão e Ciência Política
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604 541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt