¿Trabajadores o Inversores? Investigar los aspectos de reciprocidad entre los miembros de las Empresas Sociales Griegas

In Europe 160 million people are members of social economy enterprises and mutual societies. Members that work at social enterprises usually are bound with an employee relationship with their organization; on the other hand participating in a social enterprise could be their only chance to find a job, especially for economies that face a long-term recession such as the Greek economy. Social enterprises and entrepreneurs invest in reciprocity which represents that positive actions will inspire reciprocal positive actions. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of reciprocity on members’ decision either to invest in social enterprises or to work for them acquiring in both cases the necessary shares. For this reason, a survey was conducted among Greek members of social enterprises listed in the Greek Social enterprises directory, to investigate their aspects about reciprocity and if these aspects affect their decision to work in a social enterprise or support financially them. The survey process returned 142 fully completed questionnaires. The analysis identified a sub group (5 over 27 items) of the questions used to measure reciprocity that can be used to classify participants into shareholders - members (investors) and shareholders - workers in social enterprises. It is worth mentioning that sex or other demographic characteristics of the respondents do not affect this classification while there are only aspects of positive reciprocity that have either positive or negative effect on the possibility to work in social enterprises. Social entrepreneurs and the Greek state could use these findings in order to direct and manage their expansion efforts.En Europa, 160 millones de personas son miembros de empresas de economía social, así como de mutuas. Los miembros que trabajan en empresas sociales generalmente están vinculados con una relación de empleados con su organización; por otro lado, participaren una empresa social podría ser su única oportunidad de encontrar un trabajo, especialmente para las economías que enfrentan una recesión a largo plazo, como la economía griega. Las empresas sociales y los empresarios invierten en reciprocidad que representa que las acciones positivas inspirarán acciones positivas recíprocas. El objetivo principal de este estudio es examinar el efecto de la reciprocidad en la decisión de los miembros de invertir en empresas sociales o trabajar para ellos, adquiriendo en ambos casos las acciones necesarias. Por este motivo, se realizó una encuesta entre los miembros griegos de las empresas sociales enumeradas en el directorio de empresas sociales griegas, para investigar sus aspectos sobre la reciprocidad y si estos aspectos afectan su decisión de trabajaren una empresa social o apoyarlos financieramente. El proceso de la encuesta arrojó 142 cuestionarios completos que se utilizaron para cumplir el objetivo de la encuesta. El análisis de regresión logística identificó un subgrupo (5 sobre 27 ítems) de las preguntas usadas para medir la reciprocidad que pueden usarse para clasificar a los participantes en accionistas: miembros (inversores) y accionistas – trabajadores en empresas sociales. Vale la pena mencionar que el sexo u otras características demográficas de los encuestados no afectan esta clasificación, mientras que solo hay aspectos de reciprocidad positiva que tienen un efecto positivo y negativo sobre la posibilidad de trabajar en empresas sociales.Escuela de Estudios CooperativosFac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesTRUEpu

Workers or Investors? Investigating the Reciprocity Aspects among Greek Social Enterprises Members

In Europe 160 million people are members of social economy enterprises and mutual societies. Members that work at social enterprises usually are bound with an employee relationship with their organization; on the other hand participating in a social enterprise could be their only chance to find a job, especially for economies that face a long-term recession such as the Greek economy. Social enterprises and entrepreneurs invest in reciprocity which represents that positive actions will inspire reciprocal positive actions. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of reciprocity on members’ decision either to invest in social enterprises or to work for them acquiring in both cases the necessary shares. For this reason, a survey was conducted among Greek members of social enterprises listed in the Greek Social enterprises directory, to investigate their aspects about reciprocity and if these aspects affect their decision to work in a social enterprise or support financially them. The survey process returned 142 fully completed questionnaires. The analysis identified a sub group (5 over 27 items) of the questions used to measure reciprocity that can be used to classify participants into shareholders - members (investors) and shareholders - workers in social enterprises. It is worth mentioning that sex or other demographic characteristics of the respondents do not affect this classification while there are only aspects of positive reciprocity that have either positive or negative effect on the possibility to work in social enterprises. Social entrepreneurs and the Greek state could use these findings in order to direct and manage their expansion efforts

Revamping Local and Regional Development through local regional management practices

through local regional management practices. Local and regional development is facilitated often upon the implementation of local and regional management practices by the government and civil authorities in a specific geographic area. Another unique and exciting way to reevaluate international development programs is via local and regional management techniques. They are inspiring locals to think strategically rather than waiting for solutions. Thus, they may have a big impact, but their effectiveness might be limited by local capacity issues, coordination issues, and a lack of robust local institutions. Capacity development programs must be suitably matched to local realities to promote beneficiary participation. Building capacity may be done on various scales, with various short- and long-term goals, and using various techniques. Beneficiaries need more intensive focused assistance, at least in the near future, to complete the particular research needed to put a request for review and funding into action. The proliferation of jobs, a rise in the standard of living, better income, and better opportunities are all important dimensions of regional and local development. Keywords: local development, region development, management practice

DEA-Based Malmquist Productivity Indexes for Assessing Greek Tourism Regions

For this research project, a DEA-based Malmquist index model was built to evaluate the effectiveness and productivity of Greece's thirteen distinct tourist zones. The purpose of this article is to present a statistical analysis comparing the economic performance of different tourist locations in Greece. It does this by using a technique known as data envelopment analysis (DEA), which measures the Malmquist efficiency of the tourist sector in each of Greece's thirteen regions for the years 2017-2021. According to the findings of our study, the level of competitiveness enjoyed by a number of Greece's areas has not increased throughout the period under review. Our study approach and results give a reference for places in Greece that urgently need quick tourist growth to affect economic recovery. This need arises against the background of global climate change, the energy crisis, and the age that follows COVID-19

The Role of Agriculture in Economic Growth: A Comparison of Mediterranean and Northern Views in Europe

The main objective of this paper is to identify the causal relationship that exists between agricultural value added per worker and Gross Domestic Product per capita in Europe. More specifically, the role of agriculture in economic growth is examined with special emphasis to the differences and similarities among Mediterranean and Northern countries. In order to examine short-run and long-run relationships, recent methods of linear co-integration are employed while the role of agricultural value added in economic growth is also examined by Granger causality tests. Results show a bi-directional relationship between agricultural value added and economic growth in the northern EU countries and only in one Mediterranean country. From a policy point of view, this relationship is of crucial importance since it can facilitate successful economic decisions. Taking into consideration that the role of agriculture in economic growth is an issue that always attracts the interest of scholars, this research could be prove extremely interesting and useful. Especially for this period of economic crisis, when the whole growth approach is reexamined and reevaluated, the research findings provide evidence that agriculture can lead as an engine of growth in several EU countries and can play stabilizer's role in the whole EU economy

Technical and Scale Efficiency of farms producing grapes for wine

climatechange and the subsequent requirements to comply with environmental standards, continuoustechnological change, and the need to adapt it, adjust, and remain competitive. The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic hardship it brought about, followed by the current energy crisis,make it imperative to address issues of competitiveness and efficiency of farm units. Theseunfavorable developments particularly affect mountainous and disadvantaged rural areassuch as the Region of Western Macedonia in Greece. Furthermore, the decarbonizationprocess that this region is undergoing, leads to a period of uncertainty, especially in relationto employment. The cultivation of vineyards and wine production are dominant economicactivities with Xinomavro being the main grape for wine variety. The efficiency of grape-producing farms are considered important for the whole wine supply chain. The objective of this paper is to estimate the technical and scale efficiency of wine-related agricultural firms in the region of Western Macedonia, by applying the DEA methodology. An output-oriented empirical model was applied for the estimation of technical and scale efficiency of farms producing grapes for wine. Keywords: technical efficiency, scale efficiency, wine grape cultivation, Western Macedonia, winerie

New entrants policy into agriculture: researching new farmers’ satisfaction

During the last three decades, the European Union has adopted a series of policies aiming to increase the new farmers entering the primary sector. This scheme, namely the “New Entrants Policy”, is reflected to the relevant regulations of the Common Agricultural Policy. After many years of implementation, there is still limited information regarding young farmers’ perceptions and participation to this scheme. Against this backdrop, a questionnaire was developed in order to assess the degree of new farmer’s satisfaction on their decision to enter the agricultural sector by participating in this scheme. Furthermore, we tried to evaluate the factors and motivations that determined their decision. The survey was carried out in Greece during an educational seminar specifically designed for new entrants in agriculture. In total, 254 new farmers answered questions concerning their experience from the implementation of the program. Additionally, executives of public services involved in the program implementation were interviewed in depth. Data analysis revealed that the majority of new entrants declare a high degree of satisfaction from their decision to enter agriculture. Specifically, those who display environmental consciousness related to field practices towards environment protection feel more satisfied with their decision

Assessment of quality assuranse systems implemented by the agricultural cooperative enterprises and its contribution in their financial status

The main subject of this PhD thesis is the examination of the Quality Systems (QS) implementation by the Greek second degree agricultural cooperative firms (ASE). More specifically the QS implementation motives are examined along with the characteristics of ASE that affect their decision to adopt QS and even more the economic results generated by the QS adoption are investigated. The first part presents the theoretical background of the ASE, as well as theoretical subjects about quality assurance and management systems. Even more, various quality systems are presented, in order to illustrate their properties and their requirements. The second part presents an extensive bibliographic review about the adoption and implementation of such QS. Thus, the incentives to adopt QS along with their contribution in firms’ performance are examined. The situation in Greece concerning QS, specific issues about small and medium sized enterprises and issues about the participation in Quality awards are also discussed. Even more, the quality labels role in the consumers’ preferences are presented and moreover the methodologies that can be used to estimate the quality cost are described. Finally, issues concerning procedures to choose a QS are illustrated. The second part ends with the formulation of the subjects to be examined. The third part presents the methodology that was followed and the results. Factor analysis was used to identify incentives to adopt QS, which were classified as operational and business performance improvements as well as pressure from the market side to adopt a QS. The characteristics of ASE that affect incentives and finally their decision to adopt a QS were determined by using binary logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that trademarks, efforts to increase market share and dealing with dairy and cheese products positively affect both HACCP and ISO 9001 adoption. The turnover of the examined ASE positively affects the ISO 9001 adoption, while HACCP adoption is negatively affected by the number of different activities and by the perception that HACCP only generates more bureaucracy. The number of highly educated personnel positively affects HACCP. Finally, a financial analysis for the ASE is presented. According to the panel data analysis of the ASE balance sheets, it was concluded that QS adoption by the ASE does not have a positive effect in their economic performance. Finally, the third part includes some suggestion for further examination that was identified by this thesis.Θέμα της διατριβής αποτελεί η διερεύνηση της εφαρμογής Συστημάτων Ποιότητας (ΣΠ) από τις αγροτικές δευτεροβάθμιες συνεταιριστικές επιχειρήσεις (ΑΣΕ) της χώρας. Πιο συγκεκριμένα εξετάζονται τα κίνητρα εφαρμογής ΣΠ, τα χαρακτηριστικά των ΑΣΕ που επηρεάζουν την απόφαση εφαρμογής, ενώ δίνεται ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα στη διερεύνηση της επίδρασης των ΣΠ στην απόδοση και τα οικονομικά αποτελέσματα των ΑΣΕ. Στην πρώτη ενότητα παρουσιάζονται γενικά θεωρητικά στοιχεία των ΑΣΕ. Επιπλέον, περιγράφονται θεωρητικά θέματα σχετικά με τη διασφάλιση και τη διοίκηση ποιότητας, επίσης, σκιαγραφούνται τα διάφορα συστήματα ποιότητας, προκειμένου να γίνουν αντιληπτές οι ιδιότητες και οι απαιτήσεις τους. Στη δεύτερη ενότητα γίνεται εκτεταμένη βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση θεμάτων που αφορούν την εφαρμογή συστημάτων ποιότητας. Έτσι, εξετάζονται τα κίνητρα εφαρμογής και η συμβολή των ΣΠ στην απόδοση των επιχειρήσεων, η κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα σχετικά με τα ΣΠ, οι ιδιαιτερότητες των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων κατά την εφαρμογή ΣΠ, η συμμετοχή σε βραβεία ή αριστεία ποιότητας και η επίδραση των ετικετών των ΣΠ στους καταναλωτές. Επίσης, περιγράφονται οι μεθοδολογίες που μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν για την κοστολόγηση ποιότητας και τέλος παρουσιάζεται η διαδικασία επιλογής ενός ΣΠ. Η ενότητα, κλείνει με τη διατύπωση των εξεταζόμενων ερευνητικών υποθέσεων. Στη τρίτη ενότητα παρουσιάζεται η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθήθηκε καθώς και τα αποτελέσματα που προέκυψαν. Τα κίνητρα που εντοπίστηκαν με τη χρήση της παραγοντικής ανάλυσης αφορούν τη βελτίωση της λειτουργικής και επιχειρησιακής απόδοσης καθώς και την πίεση από την πλευρά της αγοράς προς την εφαρμογή ΣΠ. Με τη χρήση της λογιστικής ανάλυσης παλινδρόμησης προσδιορίζονται τα χαρακτηριστικά των ΑΣΕ που επηρεάζουν τα κίνητρα και τελικά την απόφαση τους να εφαρμόσουν ή όχι ένα ΣΠ. Από την ανάλυση προκύπτει ότι τα εμπορικά σήματα, η προσπάθεια αύξησης του μεριδίου αγοράς και η ενασχόληση με τα γαλακτοκομικά και τυροκομικά προϊόντα επηρεάζουν θετικά τόσο την εφαρμογή HACCP όσο και ISO 9001. Ο κύκλος εργασιών των ΑΣΕ επηρεάζει θετικά την εφαρμογή του ISO 9001. Η εφαρμογή του HACCP επηρεάζεται αρνητικά από τον αριθμό των διαφορετικών δραστηριοτήτων και από τη θεώρηση ότι πρόκειται για γραφειοκρατική διαδικασία, ενώ επηρεάζεται θετικά από τον αριθμό του προσωπικού με ανώτατη εκπαίδευση. Τέλος, παρουσιάζεται η χρηματοοικονομική ανάλυση των ΑΣΕ με βάση τα στοιχεία των ισολογισμών τους. Από την ανάλυση των ισολογισμών των ΑΣΕ με τη μορφή panel, προκύπτει ότι η εφαρμογή ΣΠ δεν έχει θετική επίδραση στα οικονομικά αποτελέσματα (απόδοση) των ΑΣΕ. Η τρίτη ενότητα κλείνει με την παρουσίαση κάποιων περαιτέρω ζητημάτων προς διερεύνηση που εντοπίστηκαν από την παρούσα διατριβή