Search

In this paper we deal with a network analysis of interconnected cabinets in Greece for an extended time period. In parallel, we present a small review of the economic crises that have occurred in Greece over this period. More particularly, we used historical sources to locate all different Greek governments and all economic crises starting from the 1821 Greek revolution to the present days. We also formed a two-mode (also known as affiliation) network of ministers and cabinets and subsequently created a network of interconnected cabinets. We used dedicated software to visualize this network and used Social Network Analytical procedures in order to calculate its properties. Finally, in an attempt to investigate possible relations between network metrics and economic crises, we note and discuss an interesting observation between a specific metrics and such major economic events. In our paper, we firstly introduce the context and present our research questions. We then present the relevant literature, mainly discussing the extent to which Social Network Analysis has been used to investigate patterns of behaviors in politics. We then proceed to presenting and applying our methodology on network creation, visualization and metrics computations. The following section discusses the longitudinal evolution of our network and the relation between its clustering coefficient and the emergence of economic crises. We then finalize our paper with some conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greek economic crisis produced severe economic and social outcomes. A massive rescue package was conditional on implementing a Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies agreed upon between the Greek government and the EU, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The extremely austere fiscal consolidation and the structural reforms accompanying the Greek Economic Adjustment Programmes reduced the country's GDP. Implementing the austerity policies on the Greek National Health System, which was already facing structural problems, reduced the quality and availability of public health care services. This paper investigates the impact of the GDP change on public healthcare expenditures (HCE) from 2000 to 2018. The empirical analysis reveals a statistically significant positive correlation between the GDP per capita and public healthcare expenditure (HCE) from 2000 to 2014 while the effect of GDP on HCE after the 2015 remains unchanged. This paper contributes to the field's literature since it determines the impact of GDP on public HCE, specifically matched with empirical results to derive conclusive answers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to identify how economic evolutions related to health conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research includes an analysis on the evolutions of the health and economic conditions during the Covid-19 health crisis and also on they way they are linked to each other. The investigation is conducted at country level and is exemplified on two European countries, namely Italy and Greece. The methodology employed was based on three types of analyses: descriptive, correlation and comparative analyses that used secondary data from international organizations. Results illustrate that the economic life was affected by the Covid-19 conditions (Covid-19 incidence and the associated restrictions), with inflation being the most affected in both countries. At the same time, international trade was affected differently in the two countries, with Italy being negatively and more intensively affected than Greece, for which the association was positive and rather weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, sustainability agenda has dominated cities' efforts to improve their environment; has been elaborated in European Commission documents, has been disseminated and funded through different mechanisms. The paper examines the way urban sustainability has been framed in Thessaloniki's EU funded urban regeneration projects, focusing on projects that have been materialized or planned, since the outbreak of the financial crisis in Greece in 2010. It places emphasis on conceptual shifts in EU policies regarding sustainability and their reflection on specific urban projects. A critical light is shed on imaginaries pursued, and processes employed in these projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the export variable in the Eurozone member countries for 2007-2021. First, we analyze the position of the Eurozone in world trade, and then we examine the importance of its exports in its economic activity. We study the export performance and export specialization of the Eurozone member countries. In addition, we focus on the export competitiveness of the Greek economy. The empirical methodology that we follow for the examination of comparative advantages is based on the index of Revealed Comparative Advantage and is carried out in branches of 2-digit classification based on the Standard Classification of International Trade. In this paper, we focus on comparing export performance and export specialization between countries, which demonstrates the significant differences between them, leading to interesting conclusions in the case of Greece. We also draw useful conclusions about the competitiveness of the products of the Greek economy. Finally, examining this period allows us to explore both the effects of the financial crisis and the debt crisis and the impact of the recent health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that Chinese involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean is primarily motivated by increasing the country's economic role within the region through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The paper uses case study analysis methodology dwelling on the evolution and content of Chinese involvement in Greece and Cyprus. Primarily focusing of the nature of the Chinese investments in strategic sectors of the two cases in question the role that that China plays in Eastern Mediterranean is described as a 'silky involvement'. China's policy choices are also perceived to be an opportunity for Greece and Cyprus to combat the negative effects of 2007–2008 economic crises and to increase their geopolitical stronghold in the post-Cold War geopolitical environment of the Eastern Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decolonization of the social imaginary has been proposed as an important dimension of the transition towards a degrowth society. However, although omnipresent in the degrowth literature, the terms "social imaginary" and "social imaginary significations" have not been adequately explained. This creates a level of mystification that limits the analytical value of the degrowth framework. In addition, there is very little theoretical work on how actual social imaginaries can be decolonized and transformed. This paper first tries to clarify those concepts. Subsequently, it develops a theoretical framework for explaining such transitions of the imaginary. In developing this framework, the paper focuses on moments of crisis, since crises have been historically associated with change and transition. It argues that crises are important because they destabilize social imaginaries and open up a stage of suspension—a liminal stage—in which the rise of new social practices can facilitate the emergence of new social imaginary significations and institutions that can contribute to the alteration of the social imaginary at large. The paper draws on case studies related to the Greek crisis, the biggest ever faced by a country of the Global North after the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the perceptions of domestic and foreign entrepreneurs (businesspeople and/or managers) operating in Greece towards the spatial diffusion of FDI effects caused by the privatization programme implemented by the Greek government after an economic crisis. In particular, it investigates whether attracting foreign direct investors through the ongoing privatization programme could be a policy tool for the country's recovery from the prolonged 2008 global economic crisis. To that end, it presents the results of a multinomial logistic regression model based on survey data from a significant sample of domestic and foreign investors in Greece. The key finding of this study suggests that the positive effects of FDI on the recovery of Greece from the economic crisis are more likely to benefit the country's economy as a whole than only the local economy in which the FDI is located. This finding is stronger for entrepreneurs who are (moderately) optimistic about the role of the privatization programme in attracting the interest of foreign investors than others. Overall, there is evidence that FDI attraction policies can help all Greek regions to recover from an economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the findings of empirical studies of foreign direct investment (FDI) activity have differences regarding model specifications, there is an agreement on the set of covariates that may be included. This form of consensus has led to the gradual acceptance of a universal model of FDI activity, where the inclusion of covariates may be different across time and space. Under the consideration of these developments, this paper aims to analyze the factors favoring/discouraging FDI activity in Greece. Data is collected from a questionnaire survey filled by managers of multinationals (or their subsidiaries) operating in Greece. A survey of the literature leading to the development of a questionnaire based on the universal model of FDI activity and the preliminary findings are discussed. The findings are expected to have a positive and critical contribution to the ongoing debate about the reforms required in Greece's business environment in order to exit from the economic crisis that was triggered in late 2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the 2008–2020 period during which two major crises, affecting the economy and the financial markets, occurred. Between 2008 and 2020, there were less extreme tail events, including the lingering Eurozone and Greece crises. In particular, after extremely high stock market volatility and volatility of volatility (VoV) during 2008, the long-run average volatility declined to about 20% and the VoV to around 100%. This paper analyzes this period through the lens of risk and ambiguity (uncertainty). It aims to address the question: what are the financial markets that trade risk — the volatility derivatives markets — telling us? To this end, this paper uses several measures of uncertainty. It reviews the history of volatility and uncertainty measures and discusses their informativeness. It then discusses the information derived from volatility derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroeconomic changes such as economic depression and stock market crashes can have an impact on private life, mood and attitudes toward individuals and, by this, on the macroeconomy. This paper deals with the mental health indicators depression and grief as a result of economic and financial crises. For this purpose, it refers to the seminal five phases of crisis response well known from psychology and applies them to the setting of Greece since the start of the most recent crisis. In this context, we differentiate between investors and the "normal" population and deal with important feedback effects from lower mental health to the macroeconomy. Finally, as these feedback effects tend to lead even deeper into macroeconomic trouble, a vicious cycle cannot be excluded given these findings. The paper also generalizes its considerations to the case of mental health effects of economic crises beyond the Greek case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries in Greece have lost much of their already limited funding due to the recent global economic crisis. It has therefore become necessary for them to seek alternative sources of income. One such strategy could be commercial advertising, which constitutes the renting of space within or outside the library or using the library's website to place ads. However, an application of commercial advertising in libraries can trigger negative reactions from library patrons. In this context, the aim of this paper is to investigate stakeholders' views regarding the use of commercial advertising by Greek libraries, using a quantitative methodology. The results reveal that commercial advertising is considered as a possible profitable strategy for Greek libraries by both respondent groups, information professionals and users, alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper finds that the financial crisis has tremendously impacted innovation in most European countries with Greece and Lithuania being the most affected while Finland and Austria have the least negative effect on their innovation activities. Greece and Lithuania's national innovation systems share many common characteristics which are in sharp contrast to those shared by Finland and Austria, including most notably culture, quality of the higher education system, science and technological capability, and structure of the economy. Those identified distinctions along the main dimensions of the national innovation systems between the most and least affected countries could to a large extent explain why the effect of the financial crisis is heterogeneous across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the effect of a (semi-) deposit run during a debt crisis on crime rates. The study focuses on Greece's protracted debt crisis (2009–2018) and analyzes the response of crime to deposit outflows. It shows that deposit outflows corresponded to a significant increase in property crimes (thefts and burglaries), but not other types of offenses. The study provides useful policy insights for regulatory authorities tasked with monitoring and decreasing the criminogenic effects of financial destabilization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding Karl Popper’s deep admiration for ancient Greece and his affection for modern Greece, his work has been mostly viewed with caution by Greek scholars who, until relatively recently, often chose to either ignore or downplay it. This stance can be partially attributed to the novel approach of Popper’s critique to Plato which did not fare well with the foundational biases of modern Greek academic tradition and the prevailing intellectual inclinations of Greek scholars in the fields of the methodology of science and political theory. Although this bias has begun to recede during the last decades, there remains a lot to be done to fully integrate Popper’s work into the Greek intellectual and social discourse. Nevertheless, the establishment of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Athens University, along with the efforts of academics and public intellectuals, particularly during the Greek financial crisis of the last decade, have played a pivotal role in generating a broader interest in critical rationalism and popularizing Popper’s ideas among a wider audience. This paper examines the evolution of the reception of Popper’s ideas in Greece, both in scholarly circles and in public life, from the time of publication of his seminal work “The Open Society and its Enemies” until today, highlighting the efforts to foster a more comprehensive understanding of his important contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically studies public debt sustainability with the penalized panel splines approach for 25 EU economies from 2000 to 2019 by estimating the response of the primary surplus to lagged debt relative to GDP, respectively. A positive coefficient on average indicates sustainable policies, which is supported by all our results. Moreover, we show that this relationship is not homogeneous across the distribution of the debt ratios but varies with the magnitude of public debt to GDP. The estimations reveal a strongly increasing reaction for small and high debt ratios while it is rather flat for intermediate levels. This holds for normal times, too, whereas during years of economic crisis a monotonously increasing response can be observed. Additionally, for a cluster consisting of smaller EU economies, there is an indication of 'fiscal fatigue', meaning that the effort of active fiscal counter-steering peters out for high ratios of public debt to GDP. The same effect can be observed for the whole sample and a sample including the large EU economies, once Greece is removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the Greek firms' earnings management policies compared with debt, taxation and the financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors show that existed measures of real earnings management, whether corrected for performance or not, rely crucially on strong assumptions. The authors provide a novel modelling that permits panel structure so as to correct for heterogeneity across firms while permitting to determine endogenously the number of underlying firm-groups in the data generating process. Findings: The empirical results indicate that Greek firms are likely to reduce earnings manipulation activities when they face liquidity risk. Taxation and financial crisis have a negative and positive effect on earnings management, respectively. Originality/value: The effect of debt, taxation and financial crisis on earnings management has never been investigated in Greece. The empirical results offer valuable information to shareholders and investors as they can understand how some main factors, such as debt, taxation and financial crisis, influence firm's accounting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the regeneration process of wastelands in Greece by screening two of the most important regeneration projects that occurred in the country, i.e. the Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrio and the former airport of Hellinikon. After the 2009 economic crisis this has been a topic subjected to public discussion and resulted in new tools for their regeneration, so it is important to understand the procedures and pinpointing the partial results achieved. The inquiry evaluates in particular the role of the existing spatial planning framework, highlights the factors that define the processes and procedures of wastelands regeneration and their effectiveness to make these areas new sustainable zones in the urban tissue. The two case studies represent valuable examples of projects developed in different periods, with the application of a different legislative framework, being emblematic examples of the challenges and the difficulties that Greek regeneration projects in Greece usually face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 economic crisis signalled a new era for European and global politics and introduced a new 'economic crisis discourse', which has emerged as an attempt to explain, justify, criticize and interpret economic crisis. It has introduced new terms and constructed new meanings to political life. Media economic crisis discourse has been a decisive factor in peoples' understanding of economic crisis. The paper studies the construction and media narratives of economic crisis discourse through an analysis of articles published by The Economist during the 'peak years' of the early Greek economic crisis (2009–2011). The analysis follows Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) discourse theory and reveals the 'nodal points' of Greek crisis discourse as they are presented in the articles of The Economist. The paper underlines the importance of media discourse during crisis periods, in which information dissemination and news framing may crucially affect citizens, policies and societies in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light – whether natural or artificial – plays multiple roles in the home: both as a material enabler of everyday life and as a device for exercising a variety of social relations. The post-2008 Greek economic crisis has endangered those roles by limiting people’s ability to access or afford adequate energy services. This paper focuses on the enforced lack of illumination in the home, and the strategies and tactics undertaken by households to overcome this challenge. I connect illumination practices and discourses to the implementation of austerity, by arguing that the threat of darkness has become a tool for compelling vulnerable groups to pay their electricity bills. The evidence presented in the paper is based on two sets of interviews with 25 households (including a total of 55 adult members) living in and around Thessaloniki – Greece’s second largest city, and one that has suffered severe economic consequences as a result of the crisis. I have established that the under-consumption of light is one of the most pronounced expressions of energy poverty, and as such endangers the ability to participate in the customs that define membership of society. But the emergence of activist-led amateur electricians and the symbolic and material mobilization of light for political purposes have also created multiple opportunities for resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review covers recent archaeological work on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete, focusing on research conducted and published in the 2010s. Proceeding from the west to the east part of the island, and encompassing material ranging from the 12th to the mid-fourth century BC, this study finds that, overall, the field is flourishing, despite the challenges created by the international financial crisis and the constraints posed by the global pandemic. In the last decade, the major archaeological projects which focus on Crete for the period under examination continued with their fieldwork and finds research, while new projects were also established. Additionally, as many as eight archaeological museums were opened, reopened, or are about to open. Nevertheless, final publication of large bodies of Cretan material from the period in question remain scarce, a condition which is more severe on the western half of the island. Notwithstanding its floruit, research on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete is often treated as relatively marginal, and – arguably – rather inconsequential to the grand narratives of Greek history, and art and archaeology. This paper traces the roots of this problem and shows that current work on the archaeology of Early Iron Age to Classical Crete has full potential for revolutionizing the largely Athenocentric paradigm which still pervades the study of ancient Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the role of debt as an additional determinant of growth complementing the relevant empirical growth literature using insights gained during the recent economic crisis. Our focus is the case of Greece, the country more severely affected by the crisis, thus having to resort to tripartite external assistance. More specifically, we are exploring whether the pillars of the Troika Adjustment Programme for Greece could actually be the key to overcome the current deadlock the Greek economy, as the required fiscal consolidation resulted in deep and prolonged recession which in turn jeopardizes the sustainability of the improvement in general government accounts. The Troika Programme for Greece featured specific structural reforms as a prerequisite to improve the business environment and enhance the outward orientation of the Greek economy, thus identifying investment (domestic and foreign) and international competiveness as the new growth drivers of the Greek economy. Using panel data for EU countries we are investigating the validity of the proposed economic policy mix, placing special emphasis on the role that indebtedness (both private and public) has played in the past and could also play in the future (as public debt is ruled out for financing investment but credit expansion to the private sector through increased liquidity is a sine qua non condition for the recovery of investment). The innovation of this study is that it takes stock of both structural reforms (through PMI) and indebtedness and estimates their relevant impact on growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role of external pressures, internal motivations and their interplay, with the intention of identifying whether they drive substantive or instead symbolic implementation of ISO 14001. The context is one of economic crisis. We focus on Greece, where the economic crisis has weakened the country’s institutional environment, and analyse qualitatively new interview data from 45 ISO 14001 certified firms. Our findings show that (a) weak external pressures can lead to a symbolic implementation of ISO 14001, as firms can defend their legitimacy without incurring the costs of internalization in the local market; (b) weak external pressures can lead to substantive implementation of ISO 14001 when firms have strong internal motivations seeking to strategically differentiate from competitors in international markets. Firms internalize ISO 14001 so as to restore their legitimacy and reputation in foreign markets and stimulate their competitiveness; and (c) strong internal motivations pave the way for companies to stimulate their competitiveness by enhancing their efficiency, as some companies might strengthen their position in the local market by implementing ISO 14001 substantively. The contribution of this paper to the literature on ISO 14001 internalization lies in refining existing theory on the importance of internal motivations for the substantive implementation of ISO 14001 in the context of economic crisis. In addition, this paper extends current theory by challenging studies that dismiss the importance of external pressures. We argue that the intensity of external pressures influences the internalization of ISO 14001, but propose that this relationship might not be linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how changes to the institutional environment in a crisis-hit economy impact on entrepreneurial activity. Through a case study of Greece, the paper demonstrates how the institutional environment has changed in light of the crisis and the resultant response of entrepreneurs to these changes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, the findings suggest that changes to institutions have served to limit entrepreneurial activity rather than enhance it, and that this has worsened in the midst of the crisis. We argue that this will detrimentally impact Greece's ability to navigate out of the crisis and regain competitiveness in the longer term. The paper concludes by offering a number of theoretical and policy implications which are focused on improving institutional environments so that entrepreneurship can play an appropriate role in recovering from economic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

World financial markets have been in turmoil as investors grapple with the possibility that Greece and perhaps Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain will default on their debts. The 2011 downgrade of the S&P outlook for US debt to 'negative' suggests that there may eventually be concerns that the US will go the way of Europe. The paper studies possible transmission effects of a crisis for reserve-currency debt which may occur via central bank holdings of reserve-currency debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic crises have profound effects on societies, motivating many individuals to launch their own firms in order to make a living. Although these firms created "out of necessity" possess few resources besides their founder's human capital, the role that this critical endowment plays in establishing a successful firm during a crisis is unclear, as existing knowledge offers diverging predictions about the value of general and specific human capital. We argue that this debate remains unresolved because we lack a holistic understanding of how each human capital type influences performance when founding conditions vary, and aim to reconcile the contrasting claims by considering how "hard" a crisis hits a given industry. Analyzing data collected from 500 founders who created firms in Greece during the Great Recession, combined with data from the Greek Statistical Office, we find that general human capital provides the greatest benefits, on average, during a crisis; yet specific human capital is more valuable in both the most favorable and the most unfavorable industry contexts. These results reveal how the value of human capital in entrepreneurship is contingent on founding conditions, and call into question existing notions of what it means to be resilient in a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the debate on regional resilience to crisis in Greece, a country long suffering from insufficient planning mechanisms and recently hit by a severe economic crisis. In the paper, we discuss the spatialities of employment flexibilization vis-à-vis the devaluation of regional productive structures between 2005 and 2016. The paper critically builds on previous accounts of regional resilience, but also seeks to develop the concept through engaging in: (i) how different employment patterns, namely part-time work, present a powerful adaptive mechanism that is related to path-dependent regional production profiles; and (ii) why regions with less favourable pre-crisis production structures and anaemic growth seem to have been less affected by recession and may witness a faster recovery in its aftermath. The paper adopts a multi-layered methodology, using a variety of measures, offering an empirically grounded theorization of contemporary labour market changes within the Southern EU. The results indicate some key reasons for radically reformulating established regulatory and planning practices in order to promote a pattern of resilience that is more friendly to good and well-paid jobs. A prerequisite for the latter is the promotion of territorially cohesive strategies that reduce regional disparities and harness 'unregulated flexibilization'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges that the current economic crisis has posed for Greek public and municipal libraries. Design/methodology/approach – This is a viewpoint paper discussing the past, present and future directions that Greek public and municipal libraries have adopted or should adopt in the context of the present economic crisis. Findings – Greek public and municipal libraries ought to see the economic crisis as a challenge for development, improvement and the promotion of their presence and role in the community which they serve. Originality/value – The paper discusses the factors affecting the past and present situation relating to public and municipal libraries in Greece and addresses the future challenges for promoting development and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the capabilities approach as a framework for examining the impact of the global economic crisis and austerity on quality of working life and work‐life balance. Our paper focuses on Greece, an extreme case of a country in economic crisis, characterized by a weak institutional basis. We build on the work of Barbara Hobson and colleagues who first applied the capabilities approach to explore work‐life balance capabilities. Our study contributes to the development of theory by emphasizing the sense of entitlement concept within the capabilities approach and by proposing a modified conceptual framework that encapsulates the link between capabilities, agency, and the sense of entitlement, where the latter acts as a cognitive 'filter' that enhances or weakens an individual's perception of her/his agency to enact on her/his capabilities. Drawing on the accounts of twenty Greek professional and managerial workers, we illustrate how the crisis and austerity measures have eroded working conditions and thus the sense of entitlement, leading to the weakening of our participants' agency and capabilities to achieve quality of working life and work‐life balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists and social scientists' low professional status looms large when looking at the rapidly changing professional hierarchy based on the prominent role of technology and of scientific applications for peoples' lives. The paper seeks to unveil the inadequate professionalization of sociology in Greece and to relate this situation to the increase in the employment precariousness of sociologists over the years of the economic crisis. Moreover, the dominant economy-centric ideological/ governance model which promotes the 'utilitarianism' of the social sciences has played a significant role in sociology's residual position. The paper is structured along three axes: First of all, the low professional status of sociologists is related to the delayed academic institutionalization of sociology. Secondly, there is brief discussion of the relevant literature on graduate supply and demand in the labour market and the expansion of higher education. Thirdly, a more focused discussion is developed which portrays the opportunities and challenges faced by sociologists and other social scientists in the labour market, giving particular emphasis to the current situation in the wake of the financial crisis. Finally, it is concluded that the vicious circle of low professionalization and high precariousness facing sociologists demands institutional action aimed at reformulating the public agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop an automatic valuation model for property valuation using a large database of historical prices from Greece. The Greek property market is an inefficient, non-homogeneous market, still at its infancy and governed by lack of information. As a result modelling the Greek real estate market is a very interesting and challenging problem. The available data cover a wide range of properties across time and include the financial crisis period in Greece which led to tremendous changes in the dynamics of the real estate market. We formulate and compare linear and non-linear models based on regression, hedonic equations and artificial neural networks. The forecasting ability of each method is evaluated out-of-sample. Special care is given on measuring the success of the forecasts but also on identifying the property characteristics that lead to large forecasting errors. Finally, by examining the strengths and the performance of each method we apply a combined forecasting rule to improve forecasting accuracy. Our results indicate that the proposed methodology constitutes an accurate tool for property valuation in a non-homogeneous, newly developed market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents Greek primary education stakeholders' views regarding their quality of life and EU-related issues before and during the euro crisis. The study took place in 2016, and the population was primary education teachers and parents of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region. Respondents answered sets of questions for two different years: 2009, before austerity measures were applied, and 2016, during the crisis. Responses denote dissatisfaction with their quality of life and the EU in 2016. The findings show significant shifts of views between 2009 and 2016 regarding the institution of the EU, the euro, the relationship of Greece with the EU and European citizenship. 2016 statements reveal increased euroscepticism in teachers and parents' views and a large proportion of undecided respondents. However, it seems that more respondents adopt a pro-European attitude regarding the common future of Greece and the EU in 2016. All in all, findings show that, in 2016, respondents are divided into pro-European and eurosceptic, which denotes diffuse attitudes towards the European construct and weak identification with European citizenship. Change during crisis can serve as an opportunity for social innovations and education initiatives that will restore trust on the institution of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the reasoning lines in PM Alexis Tsipras' political discourse in critical moments of SYRIZA's tenure as the ruling party in Greece. Adopting a CDS perspective, we zoom in on the patterns that underlie the (de)legitimization of the crisis-ridden EU in three seminal speeches by PM Tsipras during the Greek/EU financial crisis. To this end, we integrate systemic-functional and cognitive linguistic tools with a view to scrutinizing representational meaning, before turning to employ the notions of endoxon and topos/locus as a means of studying the particular argumentative inferences, triggered by the respective discursive representations. Through this lens, we show how the overall argumentation can be seen as supporting the (de-)legitimation of dominant EU austerity perspectives while transforming SYRIZA into a pro-austerity voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is well documented that post-1990s migrant labour supported Southern European families over a period of social and economic change which challenged their capacity to mobilise and accrue welfare resources. Drawing on empirical research in Greece, this paper explores the trajectory of a particular group of migrant care workers who moved on from the insecurity of the informal labour market of domestic work to work as exclusive bank nurses in hospitals. It reveals how during the crisis these care workers seek refuge back to the informal labour market where their journey started, and discusses what this trajectory reversal implies on a theoretical level. Are we witnessing change in the prevalent pattern of migrant incorporation or rather its continuation under a familiar, and perhaps more precarious, ground? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transportation constitutes a dynamic Greek economic sector. Greece accounted for 25% of the Maritime Passenger Traffic (MPT) in the European Union in 2007. However, due to the economic recession since 2009, maritime passenger transportation has been facing increasing fuel prices along with declining demand. In this paper, we develop transfer function models, including macroeconomic indicators, for forecasting the coastal and the Adriatic MPT in Greek ports. The majority of the MPT models include the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an explanatory variable, reflecting the financial impact on maritime flows. Although the employment and the economic crisis dummy are also used as explanatory variables, the unemployment and the oil price do not affect MPT. The coastal traffic models are generally more consistent when the seasonality trend is eliminated, while the international traffic models perform better when the inherent seasonality is considered. This first effort contributes toward filling the gap of MPT forecasting models for supporting policy-making on maritime transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside the depressing image of closed shops as visible indicators of the crisis, migrant businesses can be found in many parts of Athens and often play a vital role in local neighbourhood markets. This paper explores the socio-spatial dimensions of Athens’ emerging migrant economies. Drawing from a recent research project combining survey and ethnographic methods on three Athenian neighbourhoods, the paper examines migrant entrepreneurship at the local level and highlights the relevance of place, politics and everyday life. We argue that the spread of immigrant entrepreneurial activity in Athens not only forms an existing part of the urban landscape, but has also become an organic part of the everyday experience of life in the city. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

My afterword engages six papers in the special issue “Archives and Anthropologies: From Histories to Futures”. It teases out particular arguments, locates common themes and explores the papers' relevance to wider debates in anthropology and visual culture. My paper particularly focuses on discussions around anthropology's analytical priorities and the position of the visual/material Vis-à-vis the social. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the economic crisis has not been as substantial to Romania as it has been to Greece or Ireland, it has still had an impact on the education system. The Romanian education budget underwent significant changes in the periods 2001-2020. The budgetary policies for secondary education were affected by the periods of economic crisis. When the economy is recession, the government is more likely to reduce the public expenditure, which includes education. The Economic Crisis of 2008 led to the government reducing the budget for education in Romania in order to balance spending. This meant that there were budget cuts for secondary education in Romania in the period 2001-2020. This paper will review literature on Romania's pre-university budgetary allocation and conduct a regression analysis to establish the relationship between GDP on the hand and GNI index and Government expenditure on secondary education between 2000 and 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, especially after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the phenomenon of populism has returned to the forefront. Populism is all around us, on the front pages of the newspapers, in the political repertoire, in academic papers. Politicians, journalists and researchers discuss this phenomenon, try to define it, examine its principal features and analyse its relationship with democracy. A large part of the mainstream parties and politicians have succeeded, through a strong anti-populist rhetoric, in consolidating the idea that populism is a dangerous ideology. Technocrats, mainstream media and many researchers blame the anti-establishment parties and argue that populism is an 'irrational' phenomenon that threatens politics and society. But is that really the case? In this article, we examine anti-populism after the economic collapse in Greece (2008/09) and Argentina (2001) to highlight the danger that derives from this kind of discourse. Our main goal is to find the chief characteristics of anti-populist discourse in both countries in order to emphasize its problematic and controversial perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merger deals are one of the most important business strategies which can change the company value dramatically. Mergers have been constantly a subject of debate and analysis over the past decades. Thus, it is a matter of great interest to analyze merger activities during economic crisis periods, as it was in Greece recently. This paper explores the accounting performance of Greek listed companies after mergers in 2009-2015, the economic crisis period in Greece. Thus, all mergers of listed companies during the above period are initially examined through several financial ratios from financial statements for one year before and after the merger. The analysis of Greek listed companies that comprise the final sample is performed with several regression models. The study provides positive and statistically significant results for mergers, in the sense that the period of crisis that the merger took place is positively correlated with several performance measures. Regarding the industry relatedness, the study provides evidence that conglomerate mergers have more positive impact to the improvement of the companies' profitability than non-conglomerate mergers. Last, for the merger events that take place far from the climax of the economic crisis, the profitability of merged companies is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the emergence, operation and features of the time banks that were created during the recent financial crisis in Greece as grass-roots initiatives of different communities, and to examine their relation to the concept of “co-production” and possible relevance to foresight. Time banks are particularly interesting for the future of services: they address all sorts of services while the time-bank “value” of these different types of services does not necessarily reflect their actual value in the free market; impacts may spread from the mere coverage of people’s needs, to increased social capital and community empowerment; and some scholars consider them as flexible forms of co-production, or even as enablers of wider social change. The purpose of the paper is to examine the emergence, and features of the time banks created during the recent financial crisis in Greece as grass-roots initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – Primary information and data were gathered through eight extensive face-to-face interviews with key members of the four time banks based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The methodology also included desk research and review of the information included in time banks’ websites. The selection of these four time banks was based on the fact that they are the most active ones in Athens, which is the capital of the country gathering around 40 per cent of the Greek population and presenting the severest consequences of the financial crises in terms of unemployment, poverty, shutdown of businesses, share of people with no insurance, etc. Findings – Based on a specific analytical framework summarising the available literature, the Greek time banks are compared with each other but also in relation to the findings in the literature, where some interesting differences emerge. The paper also explores the role that foresight can plan in the development of alternative initiatives like time banks. The interesting conclusion is that foresight can help time banks as much as time banks can help foresight in upgrading its processes to deal with challenges of the twenty-first century. Research limitations/implications – The research focuses on the four most active time banks in Athens. While this selection is justified, future research would be good to include all the time banks in Greece. Social implications – The paper explores how time banks in Greece emerged as well as how they can further develop. This is of direct relevance to society as time banks are by default a community initiative. Originality/value – Time banks in Greece have not been previously studied. Second, time banks in general were never linked to approaches like foresight. This becomes increasingly important in examining possible approaches toward more sustainable and resilient societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is address two questions: "Did the context of economic crisis affect the image of Portugal as a tourist destination? And What were the answers and lessons learned?". Design/methodology/approach -- The authors have no information to assess the effect of the crisis on the brand image of Portugal as a tourist destination. The paper limits itself to what is a first step in this assessment and assumes that periods of low demand for destination Portugal are linked in some way to the economic crisis. The paper examines the UK market demand for holiday travel to Portugal from 2009 to 2013 and additionally the revenue contribution from tourism to Portugal's balance of payments. The data are analyzed in the context of two decisions relating to Portuguese tourism governance: the anti crisis measures of 2009 and the new model for tourism promotion of 2013. Findings -- The paper assumes that during the period 2009-2013 the demand for Portuguese tourism was not affected by the crisis and, if any damage has been done to the international brand image of destination Portugal, its consequences are not dramatic. In fact, the demand for destination Portugal in the UK market remained strong and is higher than the market as a whole. The same applies to destination Greece and the decline in demand for destination Turkey seems to be linked to social and political crisis in the country. Given this context, it is interesting to note that revenue from travel and tourism in Portugal achieved a growth rate that had not occurred before in the recent past. Research limitations/implications -- The scope for analyzing empirical data is limited to the statistical information for Tourism in Portugal. However, it is possible to identify patterns of demand behavior of demand that help provide clues to the variations in tourism flows. Practical implications -- In 2013, the index of overnight stays and income to the Portuguese hospitality industry exceeded that of 2009, but the index of average revenue per overnight stay at current prices was still lower than that of 2009. It would appear that the anti-crisis measures that the government took in 2009 had little or no impact nor do the changes to the tourism promotion Model in 2013 reveal why the Government considered 2013 to be "the best tourist year ever" or in 2014 "an historic year". Originality/value -- The paper provides a bottom-up perspective, based on observation, measurement and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the specific research is to identify how the economic crisis has affected the way construction projects are managed and to determine how project management should be exercised amid an economic crisis. The research identifies the adoption of more consistent project governance, more rigorous risk management techniques and a more careful project portfolio management as the main areas on which the economic crisis affected the way construction projects are managed. Most importantly it shows that the economic crisis has contributed to the reemergence of project management as a key competency within the organisational culture of construction companies. In terms of how project management should be exercised amid an economic crisis, the research shows that the main actions to be taken should include the development of an early warning system, the formation of crisis scenarios and the formation of a crisis management team in a context of tighter cost and risk control procedures throughout all the phases of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on research conducted in Greece, where, during the last seven years, an acute socio-economic crisis has led to the emergence of a number of alternative organizational forms. By foregrounding the term drasis, the unexpected unfolding of an event in a specific space and time, we discuss how these alternative forms assemble differential capacities in order to resist the neoliberal ordering of socio-spatial and economic relations. In particular, we focus on two self-organized spaces, namely, a social centre and a squatted public garden and discuss two concrete instances of drasis. We propose that drasis instigates the establishment and evolution of transformative, prefigurative organizing through three interrelated processes, namely, the formation of resistance assemblages, social learning and socio-spatial solidarity. The paper offers three propositions, suggesting that drasis provides the socio-material conditions through which new resistance formations challenge the established productive forces of society and co-produce alternative forms of civic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a dynamic model in which fiscal restrictions interact with government borrowing and default. The government faces fiscal constraints; it cannot adjust tax rates or impose lump-sum taxes on the private sector, but it can adjust public consumption and foreign debt. When foreign debt is sufficiently high, however, the government can choose to default to increase domestic public and private consumption by freeing up the resources used to pay the debt. Two types of defaults arise in this environment: fiscal defaults and aggregate defaults. Fiscal defaults occur because of the government's inability to raise tax revenues. Aggregate defaults occur even if the government could raise tax revenues; debt is simply too high to be sustainable. In a quantitative exercise calibrated to Greece, we find that our model can predict the recent default, but that increasing taxes would not have prevented it. In fact, increasing taxes would have made the recession deeper because of the distortionary effects of taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the period between end-2009 and end-2015, Greece experienced two discernible financial crises. This paper undertakes a correlation analysis of risk premia to investigate the nature and extent of contagion from these crises to other selected Eurozone countries. A commonly expressed view is that the effects of the second crisis were more muted since the systemic risks were seen by markets as being lower. However, using a rolling correlation model, a Dynamic Conditional Correlation GARCH ( DCC- GARCH) model and a t-copula model we find that this is not the case. Broadly speaking, the contagion effects of the second crisis were at least as large as those associated with the first one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do firm‐specific shocks contribute to large economic downturns associated with financial crises? Using a large and representative dataset on Greek firms covering all sectors of the economy over the period 2000–2014, we find that the contribution of firm‐specific shocks to the volatility of aggregate sales growth increased substantially (about 30%) during the Greek financial crisis and dominated the contribution of macro‐economic and sectoral shocks. We also find that, throughout the sample period, inter‐firm linkages are two and a half times as important as the direct effect of firm shocks in driving aggregate fluctuations. However, during the financial crisis, the Greek economy became more granular, and the direct effect of firm‐specific shocks had increased importance in driving aggregate volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]