EMPIRICAL DEMAND ANALYSIS FOR LONG - LENGTH ROUNDWOOD (SAWLOGS) IN GREECE

In Greece and internationally, the roundwood is one of the most important forest products as it is used widely in construction and building sector. In this study the process of wholesale long-length roundwood (>2m) price determination is depicted in the form of an inverse demand system. The empirical application based on five species of long-length roundwood using yearly data for auctions providing reasonable and promising results. The own-quantity flexibilities suggest that the responses of prices to own-quantity changes are inelastic while Allais coefficients suggest substitutability between the different species of log-length roundwood.Inverse Almost Ideal Demand System, demand analysis, flexibilities, long-length roundwood, wood sector, Greece

Regional Specialization of Greek Prefectures for the Time Period 1981-2001

Intense regional inequalities are considered to be widespread in Greece. Indeed, Athens mainly, and Thessaloniki consist the two poles in Greece, Thessaloniki in a lower degree though. In these two cities the larger part of industrial activity, as well as, tertiary sector activities, is assembled. On the contrary, in the other Greek regions not only the economic activities but also the infrastructures have been developed in smaller degree. Moreover, as it is well known, two Greek regions (Northern Aegean, Epirus) are among the poorest in the European Union. This fact constitutes a reluctant factor to the effort of Greece to increase the standard of living of the citizens. In addition, the last two decades, a significant decrease of the contribution of primary sector to the GDP with simultaneous increase of the contribution of the tertiary sector is observed. The particular change involves significant repercussions to the national economy. The aim of this paper is the study of the specialization of Greek prefectures as well as spatial distribution of 13 sectors of economic activity using employment data and methods of regional analysis such as Gini – Hirschman coefficient, Location Quotient Coefficient (LQ), Coefficient of Location (CL), Coefficient of Specialization (CS) and analysis of variation – participation.

Rangelands and rural development: The case of Evros prefecture

Rangelands are used in many countries for water supply, cattle – breeding, outdoor recreation and many other purposes related to improvement of life quality. The aim of this paper is the investigation of the attitudes of the local people in a remote rural area concerning the contribution of rangeland resources in the rural development. Our study was conducted with the use of a specially designed questionnaire and it took place in the area of Evros prefecture. The questionnaire included questions concerning items measuring various benefits and contributions in the quality of life by rangelands. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the methodology of confirmatory factor analysis. Our results showed that the latent structure of overall benefits from rangelands is strongly related to three main factors of benefits, with most important being the recreational benefits factor, as viewed by the local people

Optimal design of the renewable energy map of Greece using weighted goal-programming and data envelopment analysis

Renewable energy forms have been widely used in the past decades highlighting a "green" shift in energy production. An actual reason behind this turn to renewable energy production is EU directives which set the Union's targets for energy production from renewable sources, greenhouse gas emissions and increase in energy efficiency. All member countries are obligated to apply harmonized legislation and practices and restructure their energy production networks in order to meet EU targets. Towards the fulfillment of 20-20-20 EU targets, in Greece a specific strategy which promotes the construction of large scale Renewable Energy Source plants is promoted. In this paper, we present an optimal design of the Greek renewable energy production network applying a 0-1 Weighted Goal Programming model, considering social, environmental and economic criteria. In the absence of a panel of experts Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach is used in order to filter the best out of the possible network structures, seeking for the maximum technical efficiency. Super-Efficiency DEA model is also used in order to reduce the solutions and find the best out of all the possible. The results showed that in order to achieve maximum efficiency, the social and environmental criteria must be weighted more than the economic ones

A financial approach to renewable energy production in Greece using goal programming

Investing in renewable energy production is a high interest venture considering global energy needs and the environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption. Motivated by the goals set by the European Union towards 2020, this study aims at designing a renewable energy map (installing solar power plants) in Greece. Three aspects are considered, namely, social, financial, and power production aspects. A goal programming model is developed under target and structural constraints, and all possible weight combinations are examined. The solutions derived from each iteration are subjected to a financial meta-analysis, considering different tax and return scenarios aligned to the Greek taxation and banking system. The analysis considers Greece and each region separately, taking net present value (NPV) as an objective measure to assess the solutions. From the results, it is concluded that the internal rate of return is approximately 22.5%−25%22.5%−25% for the overall network. In addition, higher NPV values are obtained when the financial and power production aspects are given greater emphasis. The proposed model provides multi-dimensional information for decision makers; investors can determine the optimal budgeting mix, and policy makers can determine the weight on each aspect that guarantees the success of the venture

The contribution of the road transport projects of the NSRF 2007-2013 to the development of a Greek region

The purpose of the present paper is to study how the actions of the road projects of National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013 contributed to the development of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, as these actions were included in the respective Operational Program of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace 2007-2013. It analyzes the European regional policy, examines the cohesion policy of the European Union, which aims to reduce regional inequalities and ensure the social, economic and territorial cohesion. In Greece, the cohesion policy implementation for the period 2007-2013 was achieved through the NSRF 2007-2013, where the present study presents its training philosophy and the priorities set. The study area concerns the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, followed by the analysis, characteristics and results of the Operational Program of the Region of the same period, through which 87 road projects were implemented. Data are collected for each of these projects and, through the presented research methodology, conclusions are drawn on the contribution of these actions to the development of the Region

An expert system for ranking companies and investments: wood industry case

Wood industry is a very important part of both the Greek Rural and industrial sector. The discovery of the differentiation in the level of growth and in the quality of financial management between the Greek wood companies can provide very important aid in the design of an effective rural development policy. The evaluation and ranking of Greek wood companies based on actual financial data is a very complicated task and it requires expertise knowledge and skills. On the other hand a computer expert system can perform validation and evaluation in an efficient way and can substitute human experts. An expert system was designed and developed towards this direction. It uses multicriteria analysis for each one of the wood companies based on actual financial data and it applies fundamental principles of fuzzy logic in order to calculate the expected intervals of flows for the following years.

Mapping priority areas for apiculture development with the use of geographical information systems

Supporting local and central authorities in decision-making processes pertaining to environmental planning requires the adoption of scientific methods and the submission of proposals that could be implemented in practice. Taking into consideration the dual role that honeybees play as honey producers and crop pollinators, the aim of the present study is to identify and utilize a number of indicators and subsequently develop priority thematic maps. Previous research has focused on the determination of, and, on certain occasions, on mapping, priority areas for apiculture development, based mainly on the needs of honeybees, without taking into consideration the pollination needs of crops that are cultivated in these areas. In addition, research so far has been carried out in specific spatial entities, in contrast to the current study, in which the areas to be comparatively assessed are pre-chosen based on their geographical boundaries. The information derived from this process is expected to help decision-makers in local and regional authorities to adopt measures for optimal land use and sound pollination practices in order to enhance apiculture development at a local scale. To achieve this target, the study incorporates literature about the attractiveness of crops and plants to pollinating honeybees as well as the pollination services provided by honeybees, in combination with detailed vegetative land cover data. The local communities of each municipality were comparatively evaluated, by introducing three indicators through numerical and spatial data analysis: Relative Attractiveness Index (RAI), Relative Dependence Index (RDI), and Relative Priority Index (RPI). Based on these indicators, attractiveness, dependence, and priority maps were created and explained in detail. We suggest that a number of improvement measures that will boost pollination or honey production or both should be taken by decision-makers, based on the correlations between the aforementioned indicators and the exanimated areas. In addition, dependence maps can constitute a powerful tool for raising awareness among both the public and the farmers about the value of honeybees in pollination, thus reinforcing bee protection efforts undertaken globally. Attractiveness maps that provide a thorough picture of the areas that are sources of pollen and nectar can serve as a general guide for the establishment of hives in areas with high potential for beekeeping

Attitudes and views of citizens regarding the contribution of the trail paths in protection and promotion of natural environment

In recent decades, large sections of trail paths throughout Greece have been maintained, revived, and marked, creating a wide network with a total length of approximately 3500 km. The trail paths are one of the main levers of tourism development as they contribute to the preservation, protection, and promotion of the countryside, cultural heritage, and tradition, to the more effective protection and management of areas of exceptional natural beauty and sensitive ecosystems with wildlife. This paper investigates the view of the citizens of the regional unit of Evros, Greece, on the contribution of the trail paths to the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment. The research was conducted with the use of a structured questionnaire and through personal interviews. The data were collected and analyzed with the use of descriptive statistical methods as well as multivariate analysis techniques. The results of the research show that the attitudes of citizens to the contribution of paths in the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment are directly or indirectly influenced by various factors. In particular, age directly affects the view of citizens towards the trail paths, with the younger ones having more positive views. Other important predictors of citizens’ views were the type of activity in the trail path, with citizens using them for leisure activities or using the easy roots having more positive views towards them

A geographical information approach for forest maintenance operations with emphasis on the drainage infrastructure and culverts

Forest operations engineering deals with all the essential infrastructure operations aiming at the efficient management of forested areas, which constitutes a prerequisite for the development of mountainous economies. Thus, the need for addressing this objective in an effective way, in conjunction with other issues associated with the protection and preservation of forest wealth, is of utmost importance. There are a whole range of forest operations for which a decision-making web-tool can potentially be utilized. This paper introduces an online decision-making tool for managing forest roads, which uses information derived from rainfall-runoff simulation. The proposed tool can be used to provide information about forest works maintenance and damage prevention in a forest environment. Furthermore, the tool assists in visualizing forest operations and achieves the optimization of their management. The development of the decision-making tool is also described, and a real case study (the Koupa watershed) is presented in detail to demonstrate its application and resulting advantages. The rainfall-runoff simulation was conducted for ten sub-basins in order to evaluate the efficiency of the corresponding culverts in the Koupa watershed