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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors, António Cerqueira and Elísio Brandão, for their timely encouragements and guidance throughout these months of work. I would also like to thank my family, for understanding the importance of this stage of my life and providing me the conditions to thrive. My closest friends have shown me continued support and for that I am extremely grateful. Natasha Gomes, Alicia Nogueira, Diana Silva and Ricardo Biscaia: your kind attention and suggestions (even if not content related) have helped me in many ways. Finally, I cannot stress enough how deeply grateful I am to Rafael Correia, for his patient reassurance and constant certainty in my success. iii There are multiple studies investigating firm performance, in particular studies identifying firm characteristics that drive performance. On the other hand, research o