Greek Economy Research Articles

Assessing social risks in Greek and Dutch economies: A product social impact life cycle assessment approach

Abstract Purpose Input–output tables describe monetary relationships between producers and consumers within an economy and have been used to assess the effects on job creation and gross domestic product (GDP). The objective of this study was to apply the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) to assess direct social risks in national economies and explore whether S-LCA can replace or support beyond-GDP metrics. Methods S-LCA was applied in three ways. First, a hotspot assessment was conducted using the Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database to assess the direct social risks of monetary outputs of the Dutch and Greek economies in 2018. Classification 1 regarded the comparison of the Dutch and Greek economies based on direct social risks classified as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Classification 2 grouped the calculated social risks into sub-sub-topics of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Standards (CSRS) directive. In each classification, the calculated risks were normalized by the total monetary output of the national economy. Results and discussion This study showed that the Dutch economy results in lower normalized risk values for all S-LCA stakeholders and impact subcategories, except for “Respect of indigenous rights” and “Health and safety (Workers).” The main contributing parameters were sectorial monetary output and the risk levels of the indicators. Classification 1 showed that using input–output tables and PSILCA to simplify the calculation of SDGs was partially successful, because the SDGs also consider environmental aspects and PSILCA is limited to social aspects. Classification 2 showed that the Greek economy resulted in higher normalized risk values than the Dutch economy for almost all sub-sub-topics of the CSRS. Conclusions The results indicate that input–output tables can be extended to incorporate social dimensions with S-LCA and PSILCA. However, the nature of the SDGs means that S-LCA is not capable of simplifying the evaluation of countries’ societal progress, but S-LCA combined with PSILCA can assist national governments in taking targeted actions to reach SDG targets and enforce European CSRS directive compliance in the most impactful economic sectors for social performance monitoring and reporting.

A historical analysis of the banking system and its impact on Greek economy

This paper outlines the critical role of banks in the Greek economy, emphasizing their importance for maintaining stability and fostering financial growth. It traces the historical development of the Greek banking system, examines its current structure, and explores future challenges and opportunities. The paper adopts a historical-analytical approach, beginning with a comprehensive review of the Greek banking system’s evolution. It then delves into four key pillars, regulation, function, accessibility, and societal impact, to provide an in-depth analysis of the banking sector. This method allows for a well-rounded understanding of both the historical context and the current dynamics influencing the Greek financial landscape. The Greek banking system has been a pivotal player in the country’s economic development, especially during periods of recovery and growth. Post-2008, the global financial crisis exposed significant weaknesses in the banking sector, including a prevailing deficit of confidence. Regulatory reforms, while effective in some areas, have left challenges related to accessibility, societal trust, and economic resilience. The need for further reforms, especially in digital banking and transparency, is identified as crucial for long-term stability and growth. Conclusion: Greek banks remain essential to the national economy, yet they face considerable challenges, especially regarding public confidence and systemic risks. Addressing these issues through targeted reforms is vital for creating a more resilient and sustainable future for the Greek banking sector. The paper provides actionable recommendations for policymakers, emphasizing the importance of strengthening regulatory frameworks, enhancing accessibility to financial services, and fostering societal trust through improved transparency. The recommendations aim to help the Greek banking sector navigate future uncertainties while supporting economic growth.

Employee burnout in the tourism industry during a cultural shift: the role of change uncertainty, change information and meaning-making

PurposeBased on the job demands-resources theory, the objective of the current research is to investigate the influence of contextual (i.e. change information), as well as, personal (i.e. meaning-making) change resources on the perceived change uncertainty (PCU) and employee burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, cynicism, professional efficacy) relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines (1) whether PCU is related to burnout, (2) the extent to which change information and meaning-making are directly associated with burnout and (3) whether change information and meaning-making moderate the relationship between PCU and employee burnout. The research data were collected (in three sequential phases) from 293 employees of a group of Luxury Hotels and Resorts located in Southern Greece that has undergone a major cultural change.FindingsThe research findings suggest that change information is related to exhaustion and cynicism, as well as, that meaning-making is directly related to all of the burnout components. Change information buffered the negative relationship between PCU and exhaustion and between PCU and cynicism. Meaning-making moderated the negative relationship between PCU and exhaustion.Practical implicationsThe results support that leaders and managers will benefit significantly if they realize how important is to ensure that these change resources (i.e. change information and meaning-making) are in place during organizational changes and constantly evaluate the factors that can increase their employees’ well-being.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the finding that change information moderated the negative relationship between PCU and exhaustion, as well as, PCU and cynicism; and that meaning-making moderated the negative relationship between PCU and exhaustion. Further, the study refers to the Greek tourism industry (9th in the word in terms of international tourist arrivals) which plays a pivotal role to the Greek economy. Finally, the research findings contribute to the uncertainty reduction theory, as well as, other related notions.

Benefits for the Greek economy from resolving bad loans and zombie firms

We examine the type and magnitude of negative externalities stemming from “zombie” firms in the Greek economy, focusing on investment, employment and productivity. For this purpose, we use a panel dataset of Greek firms broken down by size and sector of economic activity for the period 2002-2021. A descriptive analysis reveals a high positive correlation in the trends between non-performing business loans and the number of zombie companies in the Greek economy over the last twenty years. Through quantitative analysis, significant direct and indirect effects emerge from the degree of density of zombie firms at the total economy and sectoral levels. First, healthy firms outperform zombie firms in terms of investment growth, employment growth and productivity levels. Second, a high concentration of capital in zombie firms negatively affects the rate of investment growth of healthy firms in specific sectors of economic activity. Third, a high concentration of capital in zombie firms forces healthy firms to increase their overall productivity in order to survive. Fourth, a high concentration of capital in zombie firms prevents the reallocation of capital to more productive investments across firms and sectors of activity. Finally, younger and larger companies generally perform better in terms of investment and employment growth, and productivity levels. Overall, a faster resolution of zombie firms and non-performing corporate loans, both on and off bank balance sheets, allows a more efficient allocation of resources and can boost investment, employment and growth rates in the Greek economy in the medium to long term.

The increase of International Audiovisual Productions in Greece - Impact on Tourism and the Greek Economy

In this paper is being examined the growth of international audiovisual productions being partially or entirely developed in Greece and the central role of the Greek public authorities in assisting this tourism-generating industry grow even more. This study tries to pinpoint the most common impediments that the audiovisual media industry confronts when deciding to select Greece as the location for an audiovisual project. Sustainable practices that are proposed aim to further attract and develop analogous initiatives in the Greek territory. Some of the most important benefits of the realization of such projects for the local communities are pointed out such as the increase in income, the creation of new jobs and the general boost of the local economy. The impact of audiovisual productions on tourism is also related to the "film effect" and the contributory role of audiovisual productions to promote a location’s attractions. This paper focuses on the international audiovisual productions industry’s expansion with an emphasis on the positive effects that the cultural-economic audiovisual productions have in strengthening both local economies and the Greek audiovisual sector.

Greece’s Economic Odyssey: Persistent Challenges and Pathways Forward

Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greek economy seems to have overcome the turmoil of the pandemic crisis as well as that of the following energy crisis. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that the Greek economy has returned to a sound state, since this was not really the case even before the pandemic. Furthermore, the anemic growth rates of the pre-pandemic period were followed by an equally weak average growth rate (including the impact of the pandemic), as some of the significant fundamental weaknesses of the Greek economy, which had accumulated over time and constituted the real origin of the Greek crisis, have not been properly addressed yet. This paper attempts a complete mapping of the current state of the Greek economy, offering an insight into the external and internal determinants affecting it.

An “Extended method” for measuring intersectoral linkages: The case of the Greek tourism sector

This paper assesses the intersectoral linkages of the tourism sector of the Greek economy using an extended version of the hypothetical extraction method, which allows the intersectoral effects of the labor force reproduction process to be taken into account, and data from the symmetric input-output table for the year 2015. The findings of our analysis show that the role of tourism in the Greek economy is more as a seller of inputs in other sectors than as a buyer of inputs, a finding that can be reduced to the high participation of the tourism product in the labor force reproduction process. In other words, an increase in demand for the tourism product cannot bring about a strong growth in the economy, since the sector's dependence on inputs from other sectors for its operation is low and, therefore, the increase in the tourism product does not lead to a large increase in the production of the other sectors. On the contrary, an increase in demand for the products of other sectors will lead to a strong growth of the tourism sector, since the dependence of other sectors on inputs of the tourism sector is high. The interdependencies in the production structure of the Greek economy show that the tourism sector cannot be the basis of a growth policy (i.e. by stimulating tourism demand), but, conversely, the growth of the Greek economy will lead to a significant increase in its tourism sector.

Oceanographic Research in the Thermaikos Gulf: A Review over Five Decades

The Thermaikos Gulf (TG) is a semi-enclosed, river-influenced, marine system situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, sustaining both urban coastal regions and ecologically preserved natural areas. Facing a plethora of environmental and anthropogenic pressures, the TG serves as a critical nexus where human activities intersect with marine ecosystems. The quality and health of the TG’s marine environment are tightly linked to the socioeconomic activities of the coastal communities comprising approximately 1.5 million inhabitants. The main features of the TG’s environmental dynamics and ecological status have been scrutinized by dedicated research endeavors during the last 50 years. This review synthesizes the seminal findings of these investigations, offering an evaluation of their contribution to research, their present collective impact, and their trajectory toward the future. A severe deterioration of the TG’s environmental quality was detected in the 1970s and 1980s when the treatment of urban wastewater was completely absent. A steady trend of recovery was observed after the 1990s; however, so far, the goal of a “good environmental state” mandated by national legislation and European directives has not been achieved. A clear reduction in research was detected after 2010, associated with the recession of the Greek economy, following the “golden period” for research in the TG from the mid-1990s until the late 2000s. The most important research gaps and uncertainties are discussed, while specific targeted recommendations for the improvement of monitoring and understanding of the physical, biochemical, and ecological state of the gulf are provided: (i) increase in permanent observational stations (temporally and spatially); (ii) inclusion of all major environmental parameters; (iii) monitoring of the quantity and quality of all land-originated freshwater discharges; (iv) monitoring and management of important aspects of the marine environment that have received minimal attention in the past (e.g., coastal erosion, plastic pollution); (v) development of accurate prediction tools (e.g., numerical techniques) to support first-level responders and efficient management; (vi) establishment of a supervising public entity that would support the holistic overview and management of the entire TG. These suggestions are directed at overcoming the existing uncertainties in the knowledge of the TG, safeguarding its ecological integrity and its role as a crucial link to marine biodiversity and sustainability in the Mediterranean basin.

Key Performance Indicators and Data Envelopment Analysis in Greek Tourism: A Strategic Planning Tool for Destinations and DMMOs

Over the years, the tourism sector has constantly been a driving force in strengthening the Greek economy. Therefore, being capable of leveraging a tourism business’s performance can be of great importance in many aspects for destinations and destination management and marketing organizations (DMMOs). For this very purpose, this study’s methodology consists of a combined application of the key performance indicators and data envelopment analysis. The research conducted is quantitative, aiming to analyze the efficiency of the Greek hotels by region and determine the effective ones, as well as the strategic and managerial changes which should be considered by the non-effective. As a result, it shall become possible for each set of hotels to know the ideal turnover and the tourism nights spent that they should achieve, based on their current capacity in terms of beds and employees. Ultimately, this process could play a pivotal role in a region’s strategic planning, both from a resource management perspective, as well as in establishing an effective, measurable strategy that can be implemented by regional policy makers and destination managers in a real-time benchmarking process.

Macroeconomic Dynamics in the Greek Economy during the Pre- and Post-Euro Adoption Periods

This study examines the relationships between Greek macroeconomic variables, examining before and after the euro’s introduction as a currency. We conducted an extensive analysis from 1980 to 2019, examining various economic indicators such as government expenditure, unemployment rates, taxation, inflation, and national debt, employing causal and correlation analysis and econometric modeling with and without time-varying effects. The results revealed a significant correlation between the introduction of the euro and a tighter relationship between government spending and unemployment levels, while one more remarkable point was that higher government spending or debt reduction initiatives appeared to positively impact joblessness, particularly in the context of the euro. Our research underscored the correlation between national debt and government spending as increased debt led to reduced government expenditure and vice versa. Unemployment cited an increased impact on government spending right after the euro adoption, and on the other hand, the effect of unemployment on government spending decreased. The debt–government spending nexus was decreasing for many years before the euro adoption, while just before the euro adoption, the relationship between debt and government spending was rather stable. Finally, during the euro adoption, the effect of inflation on tax increased, while the corresponding inflation tax remained stable. Our findings have significant implications for policymakers shaping the economic strategies in Greece as they point out the necessity for stable and balanced approaches that manage government spending and debt to address unemployment effectively.

The Implementation of Tax Indirect Auditing Methods in Greek Economy Against Tax Evasion

This article aims to review and analyse the indirect auditing methods that were applied in Greece for the first time at the beginning of 2012 as a tax auditing tool, for the more comprehensive identification of taxable items. By employing the use of indirect auditing methods (mark-up method, net worth method, source and application of funds method, unit & volume method and bank deposits and cash expenditure method) an attempt is made to determine withheld taxable items, other than those measured by the tax forms and the official accounting books and taxpayers’ tax data, by utilizing the information from various sources and bodies. At the same time, a survey was carried out, on a randomly selected sample of 517 respondents, for analysing the awareness of Greek taxpayers regarding the use of indirect auditing methods as well as the general population’s awareness of their basic tax obligations. A total of 96.13% of the population were not aware of indirect audit methods while 79.88% expressed the belief that being aware of them can potentially increase citizens’ tax compliance. The survey highlighted that regarding indirect tax audit methods the level of knowledge of the general population is very low, necessitating the organized and systematic promotion of these new methods by the Tax Authority, which can lead to the disclosure of withheld (shadow) taxable items and thus achieve greater tax compliance in the long term.

Socioeconomic Impacts of Climate Mitigation Actions in Greece: Quantitative Assessment and Public Perception

Appropriately designed and implemented climate mitigation actions have multiple co-benefits (yet some trade-offs cannot be excluded) that result in substantial social and economic value beyond their direct impact on reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions. Despite their wider acknowledgement by the research community, decision makers and the public have incomplete information on these multiple effects. This paper has a twofold objective: First, through analytical bottom-up approaches, it assesses, in quantitative terms, the macroeconomic effects and the public health benefits attributed to a variety of mitigation actions under consideration in the context of the Greek Energy and Climate Plan. Second, it investigates, through a social survey, how citizens perceive climate change and value these multiple impacts of mitigation actions, and to what extent they are willing to pay for them and support the adoption of policy measures aiming at the green transition of the Greek economy. We show that mitigation actions bring about significant health benefits, particularly in cities, and generate significant positive macroeconomic effects, particularly if mitigation actions focus on the decarbonization of the building sector and on the exploitation of local renewable sources. We also argue that most people do not realize that climate mitigation actions can have wider benefits for society, such as tackling energy poverty, improving public health, and creating new jobs. Unwillingness to pay tends to be the prominent attitude. People who are more reluctant to cover a part of the cost of environmental protection are less likely to perceive that climate change is one of the main challenges at global and national level and support the adoption of climate mitigation policies. In this context, the national strategy for climate change should focus on effectively informing and engaging the public in climate mitigation strategies, strengthening the public trust in government institutions, promoting mutually acceptable solutions with the local communities, and providing incentives for changing citizens’ behavior towards climate-related actions.

An Entrepreneurial Perspective on the Transition of Lignite Rural Areas to a New Regime within a Suffocating Timeframe

Timetables for energy transition vary across EU Member States. The planning for dealing with the consequences of the transition in affected regions also varies. Under the pressure of the ten-year economic crisis, Greece is one of the few countries that has committed to stop using lignite in electricity generation, achieving 80% by 2023 and definitively by 2028. Apart from its environmental impact, the country assessed using lignite in electricity generation as unprofitable and damaging to the Greek economy. Simultaneously, it formulated a national energy transition plan for the country’s lignite areas. The plan also provides support for existing enterprises and incentives for new enterprises. European and domestic financial instruments accompany the support incentives. The compressed timetable is ambitious and demanding, entailing risks of project failure. As one of the first Member State projects to be completed in 2028, its outcome will shape an ambient atmosphere, positive or negative, for other Member States’ projects as well. Based on the transition plan and the timelines to which Greece has committed, this research examines the reanimation of rural areas involved in lignite mining from the perspective of entrepreneurship and financial support instruments. The findings revealed that while there is strong social consensus around the design that incorporates best practices, the basis for the completion schedule has unrealistic elements that will have potentially negative consequences for the restoration of the areas that the energy transition affects. The present study highlights the risks for entrepreneurship that tight schedules pose in the context of lignite area redevelopment.

Credit risk modelling within the euro area in the COVID‐19 period: Evidence from an ICAS framework

AbstractThis paper develops a logistic regression model in an in‐house credit assessment system (ICAS) framework for predicting corporate defaults in the Greek economy. We consider the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the associated government financial support schemes, aiming to protect against financial vulnerabilities, on the probability of default of non‐financial firms, as well as the relevant sectoral and firm‐size effects. In developing the ICAS framework, we address methodological issues such as the predictive performance of statistical versus machine learning approaches and the imbalanced dataset problem, indicating ways to evaluate such models with strong predictive power. Our findings suggest that the effect of the financial support measures dominates the pandemic shocks, thus substantially reducing the probability of firms' default, while the size‐ and industry‐based models show that firms in the micro and services sectors benefited the most. Furthermore, using a random forest model, our findings highlight the trade‐off between the transparency of traditional statistical models and the predictive value of machine learning models.

Greece’s Debt Crisis (2008-2019): An Analysis

The Greek crisis began in November 2009, triggered by the turmoil of the global Great Recession, structural weaknesses in the Greek economy, and a lack of monetary policy flexibility as a member of the Eurozone. Since that time, Greece's economy has started to deteriorate due to a growing debt load and an unmanageable deficit are having an impact on national security. Thus, this study examined the impact of the debt crisis on Greece’s national security by using secondary data from 2009 to 2018.This study has three objectives, namely examining (1) the factor that contributed to Greece’s debt crisis; (2) the impacts of Greece’s debt crisis on its security; and (3) the Greece's approach to overcome its debt crisis. By using a qualitative approach, secondary data from scientific material such as thesis, journal papers and online data were collected. The findings revealed (1) there are four factors that led to the debt crisis in Greece such as political, government expenditure and revenue, social and EU enforcement regulations; (2) other countries, including the US and the Eurozone, as well as Greece itself, have been impacted by the crisis' repercussions on social, economic, political, and security aspects; and (3) Greece had to go through a series of restructuring to be free of this debt crisis. This study concludes, due to poor administration, Greece's debt crisis has a negative impact on security, the economy, politics, and society. Even though there were numerous foreign interventions in the crisis, it didn't just affect Greece; it also impacted other countries like EU members and the US.

Greek Public Sector’s Efficient Resource Allocation: Key Findings and Policy Management

The public sector has limited resources, and how these resources are allocated in expenditures and investments is crucial. Our article focuses on controlling this allocation for the Greek economy from 2000 to 2021, which includes the country’s debt crisis. To do so, we utilized data from national accounts, categorized inputs and outputs, and examined their volatility and stability over time using statistical and mathematical methods. Our analysis revealed that the crisis impacted the size and allocation of public inputs and outputs. While some sectors of the Greek economy displayed stability in financing over time, others were more volatile. Using a mathematical accounting approach contributes to the academic discourse on rational resource allocation in the public sector. Our results validate the tax hypothesis for primary revenues and expenditures and advocate that it is necessary to make targeted recruitments in the sector that is needed each time while keeping the total number constant, which leads to the need to redistribute public sector workers. In the same way, public projects should not only focus on infrastructure projects but should also be spread to new areas related to climate change and the agricultural sector.

Environmentally adjusted technical efficiency and the impact of energy and transport taxes on the eco-efficiency index of Greek industry

This study aims to investigate the ecological efficiency of industry in Greece through a sector-wise framework using data envelopment analysis and considering three different types of environmental emissions. Through this quantification, it is possible to determine the degree of internalization of the environmental impact for each sector of the Greek economy. This fact supports the administrative decision-making process for the planning of sustainable industrial development. Subsequently, the effect of energy and transportation taxes on the eco-efficiency index is examined. It is shown that the revenues from the collection of environmental taxes in Greece have not been sufficiently used to improve eco-efficiency. This fact underlines the need to achieve long-term economic development that is compatible with environmental goals and social needs through appropriate strategic decisions and measures. It also highlights the need to create a well-designed tax system in order to reduce environmental pollution and improve environmental quality.

Mapping Europeanization in the Greek online public sphere: Assessing the Europeanizing dynamics of social media

For more than a decade, following the peak of the debt crisis, Greece has been facing multiple challenges. Amongthem, a pandemic (COVID-19) that brought the global and thus the Greek economy to a halt, an energy crisis that threatens to flatten entire social classes, a refugee crisis, and wider regional instability. All of these concurrent problems reflect crucial socio-economic transformations compounding the country’s unsustainable debt. Despite these adverse factors, in the present research the anti-European sentiments have almost entirely disappeared from the online public sphere. To examine the presence of Europe in the Greek online public discourse, a quantitative content analysis was conducted. The sample was based on 700 posts published on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube coming from mainstream media organisations’ accounts, individual users’ accounts, and public pages. According to the research findings, social media platforms function, to some extent, as alternative agenda setters, fostering the dissemination of topics, or the expression of viewpoints that are circumvented by the media organisations’ posts. Moreover, the online discussion regarding EU prospects and the European institutions’ policies are largely descriptive, devoid of any critical reflection or conflict. Therefore, Greece’s position in the EU looks like a one-dimensional issue, a feature that can be attributed to the fact that, in the Greek online public sphere, alternative voices and sources have a limited presence within the most viewed content of social media platforms.

Estimating Tax Evasion in the Medical Sector in Comparison with Other Human-to-human (Η2Η) Life Services

This paper attempts to measure and report the extent and magnitude of tax evasion in the medical sector and to be compared with other selected human-to-human (Η2Η) life services in the Greek economy. Specific household expenditures for human (Η2Η) services for the period 2011–2017 were analysed, using data from the annual ‘Household Budget Survey (HBS)’ of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) and were compared with the financial administrative data from the ‘Statistical Business Register (SBR)’, which is updated on an annual basis with data provided by the tax authority, depending on the case-specific characteristics of each sector under study that have been taken into account in the calculations. The research showed that the participation of doctors in the phenomenon of tax evasion as a whole has been declining in recent years while other human economic activities are responsible many times over for the perpetuation and exacerbation of the phenomenon. The annual tax evasion on average for the period 2011–2017, for the medical sector, is estimated to amount to €565.6 million (0.31% of the Greek GDP – mean value of the same period), while for the ‘accommodation services (hotels)’ sector, it is estimated to €3.3 billion (1.84% of GDP), to €6.8 billion for the catering sector (3.76% of GDP), to €2.1 billion for the education sector (1.18% of GDP), to €87.3 million for the hairdressing/other beauty treatment services of the personal service sector and finally to €50.3 million for the funeral and related services sector.

Down a Slippery Slope: Lack of Trust, Coercive Threats and Business Tax Resistance in Greece, 1955–1988

Over the second half of the 20th century, Greek governments failed to tax business income in line with the country’s level of economic development. This paper uses the “slippery slope” model of tax compliance to explain why the reform of income and corporate taxation in the late 1950s met strong resistance in the business sector. We argue that the negative legacy of interwar reforms, the lack of sustained and credible investment in trust building in coincidence with the postwar reforms, and the intensification of coercive threats in tax enforcement led to an antagonistic tax climate and a degradation of enforced and voluntary compliance. Our qualitative analysis based on original primary sources shows that the arguments publicly voiced by entrepreneurs and their organizations reflected their persistent perception of tax power as unfair, arbitrary and extractive. Using aggregate tax returns data, our quantitative analysis finds evidence of systematic and increasing income underreporting both by unincorporated and incorporated businesses. This vicious circle of non-cooperation and mutual distrust explains why governments got trapped into a persistent low tax capacity equilibrium that still casts a shadow on the Greek economy.