Social Indicators and the Effectiveness of Social Transfers in Greece over the Recent Crisis

Στην εργασία αυτή παρουσιάζονται και αναλύονται βασικοί δείκτες σχετικοί με τη φτώχεια, την οικονομική ανισότητα και τον κοινωνικό αποκλεισμό στην Ελλάδα και την ευρωζώνη κατά την περίοδο της οικονομικής κρίσης 2009-2014. Τα διαθέσιμα στοιχεία δείχνουν ότι τα έξι έτη οικονομικής ύφεσης και λιτότητας στην Ελλάδα είχαν σημαντικές αρνητικές επιπτώσεις στα ποσοστά φτώχειας και κοινωνικού αποκλεισμού, τα οποία ανήλθαν σε ιστορικά πρωτοφανή και κοινωνικά μη αποδεκτά υψηλά επίπεδα. Τα στοιχεία και οι αναλύσεις της εργασίας καταδεικνύουν ότι το Κοινωνικό Κράτος, του οποίου μια από τις κύριες αποστολές είναι η αναδιανομή του εισοδήματος μέσω των κοινωνικών παροχών, είναι το λιγότερο αποτελεσματικό μεταξύ των χωρών της ευρωζώνης στη μείωση της φτώχειας και της εισοδηματικής ανισότητας. Η Ελλάδα κατατάσσεται τελευταία στην ευρωζώνη ως προς την εμπιστοσύνη στην κυβέρνηση, την ελευθερία επιλογών, την αντίληψη διαφθοράς στον δημόσιο τομέα και την υποκειμενική ευτυχία. Είναι, ακόμα, στις τελευταίες θέσεις ως προς την εμπιστοσύνη στους άλλους και την κοινωνική στήριξη. Θεωρούμε ότι η διάβρωση του κοινωνικού ιστού και η αρνητική αντίληψη του κλίματος εμπιστοσύνης στην Ελλάδα είναι δύο παράγοντες που συνέβαλαν σε μεγάλο βαθμό ώστε η Ελλάδα να καταγράψει τις μεγαλύτερες απώλειες στα επίπεδα υποκειμενικής ευτυχίας από την περίοδο 2005-2007 στην περίοδο 2012-2014 μεταξύ 125 χωρών παγκοσμίως.In this paper we present key statistics on poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Greece and the eurozone over the crisis period 2009-2014. The data presented in this paper reveal that six years of economic recession and usterity in Greece have had a significant negative impact on rates of poverty and social exclusion, which have reached historically unprecedented and socially unacceptable high levels. Our data and analyses suggest that the Welfare State, one of the major functions of which is to redistribute income collected through taxation via social transfers, is the least effective in Greece, among all eurozone countries, in alleviating poverty and income inequality. Greece is ranked last in the Eurozone in terms of trust in government, freedom of choice, perceived levels of public sector corruption, and happiness, and third and second to last, respectively, in terms of trust in others and social support. We argue that the erosion of the social fabric and the perceived quality of the Greek climate of trust appear to be part of the story of Greece being the biggest happiness loser among 125 countries from 2005-2007 to 2012-2014

Labor Market Trends in Greece over the Crisis Period, 2009-2014

Στην εργασία αυτή παρουσιάζουμε βασικούς δείκτες της αγοράς εργασίας στην Ελλάδα και την Ευρω- ζώνη κατά την περίοδο της κρίσης 2009-2014, με ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στη νεανική και τη μακροχρόνια ανεργία και τις επιπτώσεις τους. Παρουσιάζουμε, επίσης, στατιστικούς δείκτες σχετικούς με το πρό- τερο επάγγελμα των ανέργων, τις χρησιμοποιούμε- νες μεθόδους αναζήτησης εργασίας και το είδος της αναζητούμενης απασχόλησης. Τα δεδομένα αποκα- λύπτουν ότι η μείωση του πληθυσμού εργάσιμης ηλικίας στην Ελλάδα κατά την περίοδο της κρίσης, από το 2009 μέχρι το 2014, ακολουθεί με την πάρο- δο της ηλικίας μια καμπύλη μορφής U, με τη μεγαλύ- τερη μείωση να καταγράφεται στην ηλικιακή ομάδα 25 – 29 ετών, ως αποτέλεσμα της μετανάστευσης των νέων εξαιτίας της συρρίκνωσης της οικονομικής δραστηριότητας. Η Ελλάδα μαστίζεται από πρωτο- φανή και κοινωνικά απαράδεκτα επίπεδα ανεργίας, με τα ποσοστά νεανικής και μακροχρόνιας ανεργί- ας να είναι ακόμα πιο ανησυχητικά, καθώς μπορεί να έχουν τόσο ολέθριες και τραγικές μακροχρόνιες επιπτώσεις στους νέους, ώστε να αποκαλούνται ‘ουλές ανεργίας’. Αυτές οι ουλές ερμηνεύονται στη βιβλιογραφία στη βάση δύο παραγόντων. Ο πρώτος παράγοντας σχετίζεται με την υποτίμηση του ανθρώ- πινου κεφαλαίου των νέων και της ετοιμότητάς τους για εργασία. Ο δεύτερος παράγοντας σχετίζεται με το αποκαλούμενο ‘στίγμα της ανεργίας’.In this paper we present key statistics on the labor market of Greece and the Eurozone over the crisis period 2009-2014, with particular emphasis given to youth and longterm unemployment and its consequences. Statistics on the previous occupations of the unemployed, methods used for seeking work and type of employment sought are also presented. Used data reveal that the change of the working-age population in Greece during the crisis follows a U-shape over age with a greater decline occurring in the 25 to 29 years age group as a result of high emigration of the young age group attributable to the decline in economic activity. Greece suffers from unprecedented and socially unacceptable rates of unemployment with the youth and long-term unemployment rates being even more alarming and worrying as they may have such devastating and long-term debilitating effects on young people that have been called ‘scarring effects’. Those scarring effects on young people are interpreted in the literature’ in terms of two factors, the first factor relating to the depreciation of their human capital and readiness to work and the second relating to the so-called ‘unemployment stigma’

Acquirers' earnings management ahead of stock-for-stock bids in 'hot' and 'cold' markets

The accounting literature has found evidence that acquirers in stock-for-stock M&A have typically managed earnings upwards ahead of a bid. Other literatures have concluded that, when stock prices are high and rising, M&A is higher, more M&A is financed with stock, market sentiment and stockholders’ perceptions of information appear to change, and in these circumstances new (arbitrage) motivations for M&A emerge. This paper revisits earnings management ahead of M&A in the light of these findings, comparing experience in ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ markets. It finds that such earnings management is more pronounced in hot markets; that only in such markets are positive discretionary accruals commonly associated with positive abnormal returns on the announcement of earnings; and that in such markets – against the expectations from signalling theory – these positive returns are not reversed on announcement of a stockfor- stock bid. The results suggest that the economic benefits achieved by engaging in earnings management during hot markets are indeed significant: in hot markets, we estimate that on average share acquirers engage in working capital accrual management equivalent to over a third of the average acquirer’s return on total assets in that year; and that this earnings management is associated with increases in market value which are statistically and economically significant, enabling the bidder to secure control of the target with fewer shares

Personality characteristics of Greek mothers of children with special needs who are involved in special needs support centres

It is generally accepted that support of the family is critical for effective intervention in the case of a child with special educational needs (SEN). The quality of this support highly depends on the personality characteristics and the mental health of the parents. It has also been argued that, because of the increased pressure and the strain of having to care for a child with SEN, the opportunity to learn from and share problems with other families is very beneficial. It is also essential to seek emotional support at times of crisis through the means of parent support groups. This empirical study focuses on the mothers' personality since they are more directly affected by their child's disability. The aim of the study was to examine whether participation in parent support groups and sharing with others the care of a child with SEN affect the self-esteem, the coping mechanisms and the depression of mothers with such children.peer-reviewe

School leadership innovations and creativity: The case of communication between school and parents

AbstractIn this work we examine how the creativity of the school leaders improves the relationships between school and parents through the innovations. Our study is based on a quantitative approach to the issue through interviews with 6 headmasters of primary schools (3 in Greece and 3 in Cyprus) and 18 parents (3 of each school, one mother and two fathers).The results showed that the creativity of the school headmaster or school principal is a main factor to establish a strong communication based between school and parents. School leader has the power to “meet parents where they are” and none parent be exclusive from school life

Accruals quality vis-a-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?

The impact of accruals quality and disclosure quality on stock returns is a topical issue in market-based accounting research. Most of the debate is centred on their incremental ability to predict future earnings. Recent studies suggest that higher information risk proxied by either lower accruals quality or lower disclosure quality results in higher stock returns. This paper examines the relationship between accruals quality and disclosure quality, and investigates whether they are complements or substitutes in explaining the time-series variation in portfolio returns. Applying portfolio groupings, we find a positive association between accruals quality and disclosure quality, suggesting that firms with higher disclosure quality engage less in earnings management and have higher accruals quality. Asset pricing tests show that an accruals quality factor and a disclosure quality factor explain the time-series variation in the excess returns of similar sets of portfolios. This suggests that they contain similar information and confirms the substitutive nature of accruals quality and disclosure quality factors

CEO Profile and Earnings Quality

This paper introduces the PSCORE, which aggregates nine personal characteristics of chief executive officers (CEOs), to signal the quality of earnings. The PSCORE is a composite score based on publicly available data on CEOs. The study reports strong positive relationships between the PSCORE and two different proxies for earnings quality, (i) discretionary accruals and (ii) financial statement errors, measured by deviations of the first digits of figures reported in financial statements from those expected by Benford’s Law. Further analyses indicate that the relationships between the PSCORE and the proxies for earnings quality become more pronounced when CEOs have high equity-based compensation incentives. The findings have some implications for practitioners

The effect of parental style on bullying and cyber bullying behaviors and the mediating role of peer attachment relationships: A longitudinal study

The purpose of the present study was the examination of the longitudinal effect of parental style on short-term changes in conventional and cyber forms of bullying/victimization, and the investigation of the mediating role of peer attachment relationships on this effect. The participants were 861 children and adolescents (52% girls, M  = 11.72 years) attending Cyprus public institutions. Students provided information during three measurement points. There was a six and a 12 week interval among the three measurement points, respectively. The findings of the study indicated that parenting seems to be a significant predictor of all forms of bullying/victimization, conventional and cyber, in early adolescents, even when accounting for bullying/victimization levels eighteen weeks back. More importantly, results showed that the effect of parental style on bullying forms was mediated by peer attachment relationships. Results are discussed in the light of theoretical and practical implications. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.