Narrow Results

The environmental policy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two notions of high importance for enterprises and nations. Numerous pages have been written about the environmental policy of companies in their CSR reports. Whether it concerns to raise environmental awareness among their employees or local communities or to give in detail their environmental footprint at the end of the story it is about giving proofs of their environmental policy. Climate change is among the topics of CSR reports and is under examination in this paper. A case study analysis will be applied in order to present how climate change is interpreted in the CSR reports of Greek companies from the petroleum refining industry.

This paper is based on two strands of relative literature. The first examines the effect of sticky wages on international trade, unemployment and trade policy. The second strand looks at the effect of the exchange rate on wages. Related to this literature is the discussion in the European Union on establishing a common currency. In this paper, a theoretical and empirical model is developed which is tested using the Greek Labor Market as a case study. Also, a policy section discuss the options available to both the Greek policy makers and the leaders of Greek trade unions.

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, scheduled for launch in the mid-2030s, is a gravitational wave space observatory designed to detect sources emitting in the millihertz band. LISA is an European Space Agency flagship mission, currently entering the Phase-B development phase. It is expected to help us improve our understanding of our Universe by measuring gravitational wave sources of different types, with some of the sources being at very high redshifts ($z\sim 20$). On February 23, 2022, we organized the first LISA in Greece Workshop. This Workshop aimed to inform the Greek scientific and tech industry communities about the possibilities of participating in LISA science and the LISA mission, with the support of the Hellenic Space Center. In this White Paper, we summarize the outcomes of the Workshop, the most important aspect of it being the inclusion of $15$ Greek researchers to the LISA Consortium, raising our total number to $22$. At the same time, we present a road map with the future steps and actions of the Greek Gravitational Wave community with respect to the LISA mission.

In this work, we analyze the high-frequency time series of the deposits collected from the systemic biggest Greek banks during the recent economic crisis in Greece. Our focus has been to reveal hidden fractal and periodic patterns using a hybrid approach, which combines correlation and frequency analysis of the original and difference series in a synergistic manner. We find that during the first period of the recorded series featured by the dramatic decrease of deposits, the short time behavior exhibits Brownian motion characteristics with fractal dimension close to 1.5, while a cyclical pattern of monthly repetition (21 days) is detected in the difference series to bound fractal behavior. The Brownian property is also observed in the second uprising segment of deposit series, but it lasts more (50 days) and no well-defined cyclical pattern is detected. Our work reveals that the economic crisis in Greece has gradually eroded the cyclical behavior of daily differences in bank deposits, while maintaining a short-term Brownian motion pattern, albeit with an increased duration.

Greece has experienced rapid growth in immigrant and refugee populations since 1990. Although most are immigrants from Albania and throughout the Balkan region, some immigrant and refugee groups arriving in Greece also come from the former Soviet Union, Southeast Asia and Africa. Some of these newcomers have started small businesses in their quest to become economically self-sufficient, serve the consumer needs of fellow newcomers, and integrate into community life. The purpose of this research is two-fold: to review the extant literature on social and economic factors influencing immigrant entrepreneurship in Greece, and to determine characteristics and business profiles of Albanian immigrant-owned small businesses within the municipality of Attiki — the location of Athens, Greece's capital city and largest urban center.

This article investigates the entrepreneurial beliefs/attitudes, ambitions, expectations, goals and visions of rural women who choose to cooperate and found Women's Rural cooperatives in the Prefecture of Heraklion on the island of Crete. The results of a qualitative study involving a sample of eight chairwomen of rural women's established Traditional Food Production cooperatives indicated that the traditional domestic roles (housewife, mother), the low level of education, the lack of professional skills, enterprise experience and mostly the unwillingness of rural women to undertake enterprise risk, have turned them toward an enterprise model that lacks modern business methods in the use of quality control production systems, in the production of Protected Geographical Identification Goods and/or Certified Local Traditional Food and/or Organic Products, in the use of new organizing and managing technologies, in advertising and promoting products and in administrative renewal.

This paper examines the possibility that gastronomy, based on ancient Greek values, could be part of the answer for economic prosperity through the development of food tourism in a country with a harsh economic environment such as Greece. We examine if local food, culture and tourism could become fields of new entrepreneurial and regional development when paired with knowledge, innovation and quality. The paper uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) from real examples of innovative entrepreneurship related to gastronomy that are presented as case studies.

The Common Agricultural Policy pays particular attention to the decline of young farmers in the European Union. For this reason, plenty of different policy measures and motives for new entrants in agriculture there have been established. The main objectives of this paper are to investigate the characteristics of new farmers according to their participation in Agricultural Cooperatives and to identify what makes new farmers participate (or not) in Agricultural Cooperatives. Both research questions will advance the knowledge of policy makers and practitioners on new farmers’ expectations and perceptions and through them, to come to distinctive conclusions about the measures and the actions needed to promote agricultural cooperatives as a viable solution for new entrants in the agricultural sector. For this reason, a survey was conducted in different regions of Greece (northern, central and southern) during an educational course designed for new farmers. More specifically, a structured questionnaire was developed and distributed among 250 new farmers participating in the measure 112 ‘Setting up of young farmers’ (Common Agricultural Policy, Pillar II). The results of the survey indicate low trust in the cooperative organization, leading to low rates of active participation and commitment to agricultural cooperatives.

We use the record of earthquakes in central Greece since 1694 to estimate the seismically-released strain in that region over the last 300 years. The highest strain rate is seen in the Gulf of Corinth, an extensional graben which is the most prominent active geological structure. Over the 300-year period, the earthquakes account for an average extension rate of about 11 mm/yr between the Peloponnese and the island of Evvia, of which about 10 mm/yr occurs in the Gulf of Corinth. The earthquakes occurring in shorter time periods, perhaps as little as 100 years, account for extensional velocities similar to the 300 year average, though the 20th Century has been relatively quiescent. We are not confident that the historical record can be used to assess seismic strain release in areas smaller than the Gulf of Corinth as a whole. The similarity between the average rate of seismic strain release over 300 years and the short-term strain rates measured geodetically suggests that the bulk of the tectonic strain in this region is released by seismic slip on faults, and that aseismic creep is relatively unimportant. An apparent deficit in seismic strain release over a short period (as is observed for the 20th Century) is thus likely to be remedied by future earthquakes.

This paper examines different methodologies used in quantitative empirical studies attempting to identify the distinctive characteristics of innovative firms. Despite the research effort, the statistical analysis results are inconsistent. The reasons for this inconsistency were explored and can be attributed to (i) methodological differences in the studies, such as the varying definitions and measurements of innovation and (ii) different characteristics of firms targeted such as size, sector and geographical region. A portfolio model synthesising the various research results is developed, which is not meant to be universally applicable but instead can be used as a platform for country or industry specific studies. To illustrate the application of the proposed contingency approach, the author presents a comparative review of results from two recent studies using portfolio models in Iran and Greece.

While environmental management systems standards (EMSS) have been advocated by policy makers and consultants on the basis of a number of benefits associated with their implementation, some companies are reluctant to implement them. This paper tests four hypotheses with regard to the significance of a number of factors in a company's decision to implement EMSS. Specifically, it assesses whether a company would be more likely to implement EMSS if its management has a positive perception of environmental issues; if there are pressures on the company to improve its environmental performance; if opportunities arise through its environmental activities; and if it operates in sensitive environmental conditions. For this purpose, Greek companies in the process of EMSS implementation were surveyed and their responses compared with companies that had not decided up to that point to implement the standards. Specific aspects of the hypotheses posed were supported and confirmed a range of factors that are important in a company's decision to implement EMSS.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation was first adopted in Greece in 1979. In the intervening 23 years, competent authorities, practitioners, and developers have gained considerable experience in the practice of EIA. A previous research study conducted for the European Commission indicated, on the basis of the quality of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) produced, that overall the nation's EIA system was performing satisfactorily. This research builds on the previous study by examining a considerably larger sample (72) of EISs produced for a diverse range of project types. Only 40% of EISs sampled were found to be of a satisfactory quality (compared to 75% in the previous study). An assessment of the performance of different elements of the EIA process indicates that descriptive tasks are, on average, performed better than scientific tasks. Consultation with stakeholder groups and their participation appears to be particularly problematic. Variables that influence the quality of EISs are identified and a number of broad recommendations are made for improving the effectiveness of the EIA system in the short and long term.

The environmental policy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two notions of high importance for enterprises and nations. Numerous pages have been written about the environmental policy of companies in their CSR reports. Whether it concerns to raise environmental awareness among their employees or local communities or to give in detail their environmental footprint at the end of the story, it is about giving proofs of their environmental policy. Climate change is among the topics of CSR reports and is under examination in this paper. A case study analysis will be applied in order to present how climate change is interpreted in the CSR reports of Greek companies from the petroleum refining industry.

This paper assesses China–Greece relations since 2006, examining them as part of China’s Grand Strategy, and Greece’s perception of them. The first aim of the paper is to provide an overview of China–Greece relations in connection with its long- and short-term goals. In essence, it focuses on understanding whether a Chinese Grand Strategy towards Greece exists. Second, it aims to examine the perception of Greeks over China’s foreign policy towards Greece. The intended contribution of the paper is to illustrate the response of national discourses over China’s increased presence in both the global sphere and specific countries. By offering the Greek perspective, we ultimately seek to provide a more balanced foundation for the ongoing scholarly and policy debate.

The experiences of factory recuperations observable in Argentina after the crisis in 2001 and the ones of the workers’ collectives in Greece in the aftermath of 2011 are comparable and connected. The reason can be found in the stories of ethico-political prefiguration they all contribute to, and that reverberate from one factory to another, from one country to the other. By telling these stories of resistance, horizontalism, openness and autonomy these scattered workers become movement, and find their place in the longstanding stream of self-determination. The first argument here presented is that storytelling is their fundamental art of resistance and prefiguration, and that it can be performed by workers and scholars alike. Embracing storytelling as academics means becoming allies of the movement studied by both contributing to its evolution and by framing their stories for other activists and scholars to use. This is the second claim of this contribution, centered on the proposal to move beyond academic activism. The choice for scholar-activists seems to be either leaning towards a passive neutrality or an aggressive interventionism. Rather, here I suggest that partisan storytelling makes us revalue the significance of the decolonization of knowledge and praxes taking place at movement’s level. The scholar, hence, has the responsibility to appreciate his/her own partisan capacities to bring this decolonization in the narrative of the academia. It is no longer a matter of walking on a thin wire but to fully commit to both. The resulting analysis returns a picture of the movement which is much less fragmented into artificial categories of knowledge and much more powerful in conveying the message of prefiguration the movement is sending. Drawing from a year-long investigation within the movement of self-management (or autogestión) in Greece and Argentina, I consider the stories these workers tell, the significance of their prefiguration, and the potentialities of the approach of partisan storytelling. In conclusion, the contribution aims at explaining why storytelling is an inescapable part of our existence as political beings.

Public Libraries can surely play a significant social, cultural and economic role. Improvements on quality however are a necessary prerequisite. On the other hand, quality is a complex and subjective concept, which should incorporate at any given time the true (expressed and implied) needs of all interested parties. This paper investigates and empirically assesses the current perceptions for quality in Greek public libraries in order to suggest a way forward for quality management implementation. For that purpose a survey based on semi-structured interviews with the directors of Greek public libraries has been constructed and the results are presented.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the use of electronic information resources by graduate students at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Fifty-nine graduate students affiliated with four Departments of Education voluntarily participated in the study. A specifically designed questionnaire was administered to gather information about the awareness of resources, the frequency of use, the kind of information sources preferred by students, the main reasons for using the resources, the perceived effectiveness of the searches, the factors encouraging their use and the major obstacles in terms of using them effectively. In addition, the authors sought information on the ways students identify the sources they use, the level of training they have received in using the services and their training needs. Results showed that the vast majority of the participants used Internet search engines rather than specialized databases and full-text resources. It is quite interesting, that nearly half of the respondents (49.1%) had never used ERIC, the fundamental resource of education literature. Only 6.8% became familiar with electronic resources by attending the library training programs. The main problem associated with the non-use of resources was lack of adequate searching skills. The above findings suggest limited use of electronic resources by graduate students, mainly due to absence of basic skills. In order to exploit the full potential of electronic information, university library should undertake a more active role in informing, promoting, and educating the members of the academic community.

The Computer and Web Attitude Scale (CWAS) is a self-reported instrument consisting of a Computer Attitude Scale and a Web Attitude Scale to discover individual attitudes towards computers and Internet technologies. The purpose of the present study was to examine the underlying structure of the CWAS in a Greek setting and to investigate the relationship between attitudes and selected background variables. A sample of 240 library science students completed a Greek version of the CWAS. Overall two separate exploratory factor analyses were conducted, for CAS and WAS respectively. Exploratory factor analysis of the CAS scores showed that three factors could adequately explain the 59.5% of the variance. In addition, the internal consistency of the factors as assessed by the Cronbach's α was satisfactory (α > .80). Similar results were found for the WAS. In particular, three reliable factors were extracted, which accounted for the 62.3% of the variance. Again the internal consistency was satisfactory (α >.79). Correlation analysis showed moderate positive associations among the six dimensions. Mean values of the CWAS dimensions suggested that participants had positive attitudes towards both the computers and the Web. Additionally, certain background characteristics were found to influence the levels of their attitudes. In conclusion, results showed that the Greek version of the CWAS is a valid and reliable instrument and can be safety used to assess attitudes towards Internet and computers in the Greek cultural context.