Food consumption within Greek households: further evidence from a national representative sample

The aim of this study is to characterize the relationship between food consumption and socio-demographic characteristics in several groups of individuals. This is achieved by capturing the quantity of food purchased in categories on a microeconomic level. The empirical analysis is approached through the estimation of (a) expanded generalized linear models, (b) quantile regression models, (c) quadratic almost ideal demand system models and (d) Deaton’s (1988) approach. The results reveal that the composition of a household has a significant impact on the quantity of food consumed. In addition, price and income elasticities are estimated, confirming that the majority of food items are inelastic with respect to price and income except for meat. These findings can be used as a basis for considering food policy implications while evaluating the potential gains from applying specific policies

Instructional leadership in centralised systems: evidence from Greek high-performing secondary schools

This paper examines the enactment of instructional leadership (IL) in high-performing secondary schools (HPSS), and the relationship between leadership and learning in raising student outcomes and encouraging teachers’ professional learning in the highly centralised context of Greece. It reports part of a comparative research study focused on whether, and to what extent, IL has been embraced by Greek school leaders. The study is exploratory, using a qualitative multiple case design to examine two HPSS in Athens. The research design involved a qualitative approach using several different methods, including semi-structured interviews with school principals, deputy heads, subject teachers and subject advisers, plus observation of leadership practice and meetings and scrutiny of relevant policy documents. The findings show that IL is conceptualised as an informal collaborative leadership practice, interwoven with the official multi-dimension role of Greek principals and their ‘semi-IL’ role. In the absence of official IL ‘actors’, teachers’ leadership has been expanding

Can gold be used as a hedge against the risks of Sharia-compliant securities? Application for Islamic portfolio management

In this paper, we investigate whether gold hedges Sharia-compliant stocks and Sukuk during the period from September 2005 to October 2017. The inference is taken by using both the DCC-GARCH model and the wavelet coherence analysis. On the whole, our finding suggests that gold is not effective in hedging the fluctuations of Sharia-compliant securities. However, we find that combining gold with stocks (and Sukuk) is useful in diversification and portfolio optimization. These results imply that, while gold is an excellent hedge for plain vanilla securities, it is not for Islamic exposures. This is important in light of the increasing amount of assets that are managed according to Islamic screening

Impact of information and communication technologies on school administration: Research on the greek schools of secondary education

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) may be considered as a synonym for the modernization of all organizations, including school units, as they provide for advanced and updated technological tools and applications. Nowadays, the implementation of new technologies in the schools of secondary education in Greece has been rapidly increasing. This adoption of ICT reinforces the teaching process, but also facilitates administrative transactions. The current research aims to determine the level of technological infrastructure present in the secondary schools of Greece, to what extent this equipment meets their administrative needs, to study the role of the school libraries in their contribution to the modernization of school administration, and to examine the conditions that influence the implementation of ICT in school management. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

School libraries in Greece: A comparative study of public primary schools in rural and urban areas

This article investigates the management and functionality of primary school libraries and their contribution to school quality in two prefectures in Greece: Aetolias and Akarnanias (rural) and Attiki (Athens). Greek primary school libraries suffer from a shortage of school building infrastructure, a lack of autonomy in local authorities in determining financial library needs, a shortage of printing paper and electronic material, a shortage of qualified librarians and teachers training in library services, a lack of cooperation with the municipal libraries, and limited library working hours. The Greek Ministry of Education should identify and monitor the replanning and redesigning of school libraries, select and recruit qualified librarians, and develop strategies and policies to improve the quality and efficiency of the school system. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The demand for higher education in Greece

This paper focuses on the reasons for enrolment demand in higher education in Greece through data collected from 400 students enrolled in the final year of post‐secondary education in the Athens area. Results showed that Greek students choose to follow higher studies for a number of reasons but mainly because higher education offers high‐level knowledge that creates career opportunities. Family monthly income appeared to be an influential factor in the demand for higher education in Greece since, among those students from families with a greater monthly income, those who had not passed the entrance exams for Greek universities had more opportunities to pursue higher studies abroad. This paper identifies that a more appropriate response, on the part of higher education, to the needs and demands of the labour market could help prevent employment mismatches and so minimise graduate unemployment. © 2008 UCU

Job satisfaction: Factor analysis of Greek primary school principals' perceptions

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect the level of job satisfaction that school principals experience and, based on the findings, to suggest policies or techniques for improving it. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaires were administered to 180 primary school heads in 13 prefectures - one from each of the 13 Greek regions (including the metropolitan area: prefecture of Attiki, Athens) so that the sample would be representative of the whole country. The first section of the questionnaire includes the location of each respondent's school as well as personal and professional characteristics of the primary school teachers, while the second section asked school principals to reply to 36 statements that expressed perceptions relating to their level of job satisfaction. These responses yielded the principal components for factor analysis. Findings: The results indicate that two factors - the role of superior and school heads' remuneration, and recognition of the principals' efforts - which account for 33.27 per cent of the total sample, seem to be particularly important for school heads' job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study cannot be used to generalize about the whole Greek education system as it only analyzes a small sample. Therefore, analysis of additional data from school principals may be necessary for comparison and to reaffirm the results. Further investigation is also needed in order to isolate the specific elements and significant differences in school heads' satisfaction ratings. Practical implications: This paper would be useful to educational planners and policy makers. Meeting the school principals' needs and expectations seems to be a basic component in effective school leadership. As the school principal's role is directly related to human resources management (teachers) and subsequently to child development, the issue of a head's job satisfaction becomes even more pressing. Originality/value: Given that the existing Greek literature on school management does not contain a substantially detailed discussion specifically on school heads' job satisfaction, this paper may contribute decisively to the smoother and more efficient operation of the school unit. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

In-service training for teachers who work in full-day schools. Evidence from Greece

The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers perceptions of the effectiveness of training for teachers who work in 'full-day' schools in the professional development of teachers and the implications for education policy. Through an empirical investigation this paper points out that recent education reforms regarding in-service teacher training cannot be considered as the most important positive influence on teachers' progression and consequently on meeting the learning needs of pupils in full-day schools. The lack of encouragement and motivation offered by the Greek school administration is linked to the unwillingness of Greek school teachers to participate in in-service training. As a result of the latter, there are teachers in full-day schools offering extra curricula activity who are without the appropriate knowledge and the skill of reflection, teachers who have not developed the qualifications to teach effectively. Thus, it is evident that teacher in-service training in Greece needs careful reconsideration by the Ministry of Education. All schools (all types) should have appropriately-trained teaching staff and teachers that adjust more easily to the social, technological and academic changes that naturally occur in the school environment. © 2006 Association for Teacher Education in Europe

Post-graduate students and learning environments: Users’ perceptions regarding the choice of information sources

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through empirical analysis, whether or not post-graduate students choose information technology or other information sources such as home institution libraries for the purposes of learning, expanding their knowledge and/or completing their studies. A survey was conducted to gather primary source data for the paper. Questionnaires were administered to 211 education post-graduate students. Results showed that Greek post-graduate students from different fields of study chose the Internet as their primary information source for a number of reasons but mainly: for the provision of creditable and up-to-date information, for easy access to information at home, for the time of day they can access the material and for fast information retrieval. Although the Greek post-graduate students believed the Greek information network to be satisfactory up to a degree, this paper identifies that greater access to Internet resources, training programs providing students with tools to effectively use the network's resources and more online databases, combined with a historical and statistical database of libraries’ online catalogs are key issues in improving both information source performance and the link between strategy and implementation. © 2008 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved