The aim of this paper is to conduct a time series econometric analysis in order to empirically evaluate the role of financialisation in the slowdown of labour productivity in Portugal during the period from 1980 to 2017. During that time, the Portuguese economy faced a financialisation phenomenon due to the European integration process and the corresponding imposition of a strong wave of privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation of the Portuguese financial system. At the same time, Portuguese labour productivity exhibited a sustained downward trend, which seems to contradict the well-entrenched mainstream hypothesis on the finance–productivity nexus. Based on the post-Keynesian literature, we identify four channels through which the phenomenon of financialisation has impaired labour productivity, namely weak economic performance, the fall in labour’s share of income, the rise of inequality in personal income and an intensification of the degree of financialisation. The paper finds that lagged labour productivity, economic performance and labour income share positively impact labour productivity in Portugal, while personal income inequality and the degree of financialisation negatively impact labour productivity in Portugal. The paper also finds that the main triggers for the slowdown of labour productivity in Portugal are the degree of financialisation and personal income inequality over the last decades.

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Smart Cities have changed from a purely technological paradigm to a holistic, integrated strategy, where the citizens play an important role in the decision-making process. Cities begin to understand the potential of integration approaches, interoperability of solutions, and start seeking strategic thinking when addressing new technologies. In this context, to implement a holistic strategy, city decision makers must have a tool that helps them to strategize according to their current state and then understand whether the actions they adopted are having the desired outcomes concerning their previously established objectives. It is not possible to create strategic visions for Smart Cities without a tool to regularly assess and monitor them. In this matter, several studies report some attempts to formulate a methodology to calculate indexes to evaluate cities' maturity level. However, they have either not taken properly into consideration indicators' weighting or the focus of the index was not clear and mixed up the key performance indicators (KPIs) of different concepts in an attempt to provide a more generic tool. Despite this, the previous studies are used as the basis to support the methodological approach of this research. This article tackles this gap in the literature by providing the most up to date Smart City assessment tool to evaluate cities. While the Smart City concept has different understandings among researchers and academia practitioners, the evolution of the concept has tended to incorporate the axes of sustainability, innovation, and quality of life. Therefore, these are featured in the present index calculation supported by the ICTs and participatory approaches. Existing standard KPIs and frameworks do not include them, focusing most of the time in one of these axes while leaving the others aside. Thus, this paper proposes to describe the development of a methodology that encompasses every one of these three axes to give cities a tool they can use to monitor their actions.

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Smart cities evolved to include citizens as co-creators, while Industry 4.0 envisioned personalized supply chain models arranged according to consumers’ wishes. Both concepts strove to focus on citizens, impacting transport and manufacturing processes, enhancing social development and promoting sustainability. However, it lacks a clear understanding of their influence on each other and related connection points in the literature. This article conducts a rigorous systematic literature review to make an in-depth analysis of the relationship between smart cities and Industry 4.0. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are performed. The connection points found are technology, process, people and planning. Their relationship is almost unanimous. Smart cities are influenced by Industry 4.0. The evidence of smart city influence on Industry 4.0 does not exist separately from that of Industry 4.0 on smart cities. Although several authors smoothly refer to the influence that smart cities may have in the Industry, it lacks a greater understanding. Furthermore, this study develops two lines of discussion based on the findings and advocates the future need to reflect on how the evolution of smart city concept will impact the development of the industry.

The lack of examples of smart-city initiatives and the sharing of best practices in Portugal confirm the gap in the transference of empirical knowledge to the scientific literature in this area. The smart-city concept has passed through three stages. However, its evolution has not been noted equally throughout countries and their territories. The literature only provides information about specific projects implemented in a few cities. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to study the state-of-the-art of smart cities in Portugal by analyzing 25 editions of the most relevant national-wide smart-cities magazine. First, the objective of analyzing the magazine was to study each Portuguese city in terms of the subject areas and types of existing initiatives in order, ultimately, to frame cities within their respective smart-city phases, as per the literature. Second, the aim of the paper was also to provide information about the evolution of the concept through analyses of embedded experts’ quotes. The results of the first are complemented with the analysis of interviews with policymakers to provide information about the existing challenges to implementing a smart city and to understand the role of government therein. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on the case study. The findings suggest that the three smart-city phases are perceived in slightly different ways in Portugal and heterogeneity within the country can be noted from the lack of strategies and a standard framework.

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